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USS Enterprise Arrives in Mideast
NewsMax.com Wires Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The USS Enterprise aircraft carrier group
arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, replacing two carriers that had
left the Gulf after a monthslong deployment aimed at sending a signal of
strength to Iran.
The U.S. 5th Fleet's headquarters in Bahrain confirmed that the USS John C.
Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers were returning to their home ports of
Bremerton, Washington, and San Diego, California.
Nimitz was the last of the two carriers to leave the Middle East's restless
waters in mid-July, the Navy said.
After a much publicized U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf, where the
Navy kept a two carrier presence since February, there was at least a week
with no U.S. carrier patrolling the area, although there were other Navy
vessels in the theater during that week.
"We still had enough ships and air forces available during a weeklong
absence of the carrier, so our response capabilities were not diminished,"
Navy spokeswoman Lt. Denise Garcia said in Manama, Bahrain.
Rear Adm. Daniel Holloway, Enterprise's commander, said Wednesday that the
Navy remains "committed to demonstrate our nation's resolve to maintain
security and stability to the region."
But the arrival of USS Enterprise, with its fleet of 5,500 sailors and
Marines, 70 attack, fighter and detection planes, as well as four
helicopters, reflects that the Navy is scaling down its Gulf presence, as
the ship group will be the lone carrier for at least three months, until USS
Harry S. Truman is deployed in the fall.
The Nimitz and John C. Stennis with 15,000 sailors and Marines between them
have since February conducted two major exercises off Iran's coast.
The war games were clear U.S. muscle flexing at a time when Tehran
increasingly came at loggerheads with the international community over its
disputed nuclear program and threatened to close the strategic Strait of
Hormuz for oil transporters in case of a U.S. military strike on Iran.
When Enterprise set sail for the Mideast in early July from its homeport of
Norfolk, Virginia, Pentagon officials declined to say whether the reduction
in carriers in the Gulf was due to scheduling or funding - but pointed out
that the norm is for one carrier to be deployed here.
Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff, 5th Fleet commander, said earlier this month
that Enterprise will provide "power to counter the assertive, disruptive and
coercive behavior of some countries, as well as support for our soldiers" in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cosgriff did not identify the countries, but said that the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier will "ensure the free flow of commerce in the region."
The United States maintains nearly 40,000 troops in Gulf countries other
than Iraq, including about 25,000 in Kuwait, 6,500 in Qatar, 3,000 in
Bahrain, 1,300 in the United Arab Emirates and a few hundred in Oman and
Saudi Arabia, according to figures from the Dubai-based Gulf Research
Center.
USS Enterprise Arrives in Mideast
NewsMax.com Wires Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The USS Enterprise aircraft carrier group
arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, replacing two carriers that had
left the Gulf after a monthslong deployment aimed at sending a signal of
strength to Iran.
The U.S. 5th Fleet's headquarters in Bahrain confirmed that the USS John C.
Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers were returning to their home ports of
Bremerton, Washington, and San Diego, California.
Nimitz was the last of the two carriers to leave the Middle East's restless
waters in mid-July, the Navy said.
After a much publicized U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf, where the
Navy kept a two carrier presence since February, there was at least a week
with no U.S. carrier patrolling the area, although there were other Navy
vessels in the theater during that week.
"We still had enough ships and air forces available during a weeklong
absence of the carrier, so our response capabilities were not diminished,"
Navy spokeswoman Lt. Denise Garcia said in Manama, Bahrain.
Rear Adm. Daniel Holloway, Enterprise's commander, said Wednesday that the
Navy remains "committed to demonstrate our nation's resolve to maintain
security and stability to the region."
But the arrival of USS Enterprise, with its fleet of 5,500 sailors and
Marines, 70 attack, fighter and detection planes, as well as four
helicopters, reflects that the Navy is scaling down its Gulf presence, as
the ship group will be the lone carrier for at least three months, until USS
Harry S. Truman is deployed in the fall.
The Nimitz and John C. Stennis with 15,000 sailors and Marines between them
have since February conducted two major exercises off Iran's coast.
The war games were clear U.S. muscle flexing at a time when Tehran
increasingly came at loggerheads with the international community over its
disputed nuclear program and threatened to close the strategic Strait of
Hormuz for oil transporters in case of a U.S. military strike on Iran.
When Enterprise set sail for the Mideast in early July from its homeport of
Norfolk, Virginia, Pentagon officials declined to say whether the reduction
in carriers in the Gulf was due to scheduling or funding - but pointed out
that the norm is for one carrier to be deployed here.
Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff, 5th Fleet commander, said earlier this month
that Enterprise will provide "power to counter the assertive, disruptive and
coercive behavior of some countries, as well as support for our soldiers" in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cosgriff did not identify the countries, but said that the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier will "ensure the free flow of commerce in the region."
The United States maintains nearly 40,000 troops in Gulf countries other
than Iraq, including about 25,000 in Kuwait, 6,500 in Qatar, 3,000 in
Bahrain, 1,300 in the United Arab Emirates and a few hundred in Oman and
Saudi Arabia, according to figures from the Dubai-based Gulf Research
Center.
