In early May, Caspar Weinberger offered the use of an American aircraft carrier. This seemingly extremely generous offer was seen by some as vital: it was noted by Rear Admiral Woodward that the loss of "Invincible" would have been a severe setback, but the loss of "Hermes" would have meant an end to the whole operation. Weinberger admitted that there would have been many problems if a request had ever been made; not least, it would have meant US personnel becoming directly involved in the conflict, as training British forces to crew the vessel would have taken years.