|
Navy readies 2 more carriers for Mideast
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was expected to sign deployment orders Thursday that would alert the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Nimitz to be prepared to move into the region on short notice. The Kitty Hawk is based in Japan, and the Nimitz is conducting exercises off San Diego, California. The Nimitz could be in striking distance of Iraq within a month, Pentagon officials said.The departure of the Kitty Hawk from the Pacific region would not leave that area uncovered, the official said. Military planners would move the carrier USS Carl Vinson in the region as a precaution as tensions continue with North Korea, according to U.S. military officials. The Carl Vinson is in port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The carriers requested for the region thus far are the USS Constellation, already in the Persian Gulf; USS Harry S. Truman, operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea; USS Abraham Lincoln, now in the North Arabian Sea and returning to the Persian Gulf; and the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is headed to the eastern Mediterranean. The Nimitz is scheduled to replace the Abraham Lincoln, which was recalled to the Persian Gulf after wrapping up a tour supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, Navy officials said. When the Abraham Lincoln finally leaves the Persian Gulf, the carrier and its support ships will have been deployed close to nine months, three months longer than a typical carrier group deployment. Anyone still think Bush hasn't made up his mind? Posted by: Steve 2003-02-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=9970 |