Mac wrote:

snip

Why was America decommed
before other ships that were older?

IIRR, it was because America was next in line to be SLEPed while the
others had already gotten theirs. So when either Stennis or Truman (I
forget which) commissioned, America was the obvious choice to
decommission, saving a bundle of money that would otherwise have to have
been spent on a SLEP refit.

Guy