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Two Navy Battle Groups to Leave War Zone
Followup to yesterday's post.WASHINGTON (AP) - Two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and the ships in their battle groups will leave the Persian Gulf this week and return to their home ports, a U.S. defense official said Monday. The departure of the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation reflects a winding down of the air campaign. The Kitty Hawk will return to its base at Yokosuka, Japan, and the Constellation will return to San Diego, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Well done, sailors! With respect to movements of aircraft carriers, Vice Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of all naval forces participating in the Iraq war - including two carriers in the eastern Mediterranean - had said in an interview Saturday that he hoped the Kitty Hawk and Constellation could leave soon, although he said no orders had been received. The Kitty Hawk is scheduled to leave first, around the middle of this week, followed shortly by the Constellation, the defense official said. That will leave only one carrier in the Gulf - the USS Nimitz, which just arrived to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln is headed back to its homeport of Everett, Wash. Should be plenty what with our new air bases in southern Iraq. Keating said Saturday that either the USS Theodore Roosevelt or the USS Harry S. Truman battle groups - both in the eastern Mediterranean for air missions over northern Iraq - may be sent home soon. Officials said Monday it was not clear whether any decisions had been reached on those carriers. After the Kitty Hawk deployed to the Gulf in February, its duties in the Pacific were taken up by the USS Carl Vinson, which remains in the Japan area and may stay even after the Kitty Hawk gets back if the carrier requires significant amounts of maintenance, officials said. "Hi Kim, my name is Carl, and I'd like you to meet Kitty. I guess we're neighbors!" Posted by: Steve White 2003-04-14 |
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