The Enterprise is scheduled to be decomissioned--a very expensive process. It would involve serious wrongdoing on the part of naval officials, but it would likely be LESS expensive to wave the ship than to go through the hiddiously expensive decomissioning process.
Iowa might be tougher--she's not a nuclear powered ship in full comission, so there's less money involved in decomissioning her.
In either case, the navy isn't diverting a critical unit elsewhere; it's using a surplus ship that would otherwise sit somewhere rusting.
Of course, either ship could be "disposed of," and the recipients, with unofficial navy cooperation, get her into space. They wouldn't be able to come back.
More likely, the navy proposes 'waving the Enterprise to save money--and points out that space is almost completely beyond the reach of the United State's ability to project power. A prominent American citizen getting in trouble in the Boskone War might just do it...
Or, after the war, the Fen hold a naval review as part of the post-war celebrations. That review will get coverage on earth--everyone likes a spectacle!
Iowa might be tougher--she's not a nuclear powered ship in full comission, so there's less money involved in decomissioning her.
In either case, the navy isn't diverting a critical unit elsewhere; it's using a surplus ship that would otherwise sit somewhere rusting.
Of course, either ship could be "disposed of," and the recipients, with unofficial navy cooperation, get her into space. They wouldn't be able to come back.
More likely, the navy proposes 'waving the Enterprise to save money--and points out that space is almost completely beyond the reach of the United State's ability to project power. A prominent American citizen getting in trouble in the Boskone War might just do it...
Or, after the war, the Fen hold a naval review as part of the post-war celebrations. That review will get coverage on earth--everyone likes a spectacle!