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| Middle East |
| Two More Carriers Headed to Region |
| 2003-01-21 |
| By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has ordered the Navy to double the number of aircraft carrier battle groups positioned within striking distance of Gee-whiz troop level statistics snipped The carrier battle group led by the USS Constellation is operating in the northern Persian Gulf, the USS Harry S. Truman battle group is in the Mediterranean Sea, and Rumsfeld ordered two more groups to join them. They will be the Everett, Wash.-based USS Abraham Lincoln, now operating near Australia, and a carrier from the Norfolk, Va.-based Atlantic Fleet. Gee-whiz CAW statistics snipped Lt. Cmdr. Dave Werner, an Atlantic Fleet spokesman, said the fleet commander, Adm. Robert Natter, decided Tuesday the Norfolk carrier will be the USS Theodore Roosevelt, assuming it successfully completes training now under way in the Caribbean Sea. The Roosevelt's last deployment began just days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and it operated in the northern Arabian Sea during the U.S.-led air campaign over Afghanistan. Natter also has available for short-notice deployment the USS George Washington, which returned from a six-month tour in the Mediterranean shortly before Christmas and would normally not deploy again for at least 12 months. Officials said Rumsfeld was considering sending one or two additional carriers to the Gulf region, for a potential total of six. (4th Infantry, Turkey, etc. etc. see below) Carriers five and six would likely be Washington, still on post-deployment standby at Norfolk, and Carl Vinson. By all accounts, Vinson's crew has done a tremendous job to get their ship through the yard and training periods quickly. Nimitz had some problems late last year, is now slightly behind its training schedule, and is trying to catch up. If Nimitz can catch up, that might make seven carriers. Might even send USS Kitty Hawk, for eight (!) carriers, although that would leave East Asia without carrier cover. Kitty Hawk is doing carrier qualifications right now. I suppose it depends on how hairy things get in the Middle East - if Hezbollah joins the fray, what Syria does, etc. But I'd say the more the merrier. The presence of so many floating truncheons might discourage mischief from other quarters. Eisenhower, Stennis, Enterprise and Kennedy are undergoing maintenence and/or overhauls. They will be unavailable. |
| Posted by:Pete Stanley (not Peter Stan) |
| #1 I dont think in my lifetime I can ever remember this much navy hardware being forward deployed. its got me thinking that someone is very worried about the fleet being hit while in harbor. Are we really sure that Iraq is the target for all this or is this activity really masking something else. ( ok, im switching to decaf...) |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-01-21 20:37:47 |