The Pentagon is sending the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis to
sea four months ahead of schedule to ensure that there are at least two
carriers in the Middle East.
The U.S. Navy has had two carriers operating in the Middle East for quite some time. It usually rotates one of the two carriers into the Persian Gulf for several weeks at a time while the other operates in the Arabian Sea, providing air support for the war in Afghanistan.
Today, Pentagon spokesman George Little confirmed that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has agreed to a recent request from U.S. Central Command to maintain a two-carrier presence in the Middle East.
In September the U.S. was going to go down to one carrier, as the USS Enterprise would not be replaced after it left the region. To prevent that from happening the Stennis has had its deployment orders changed from the Pacific to the Middle East.
Little says the Stennis is being sent so that there is no gap in between two carrier assignments to the region. Also being sent on the deployment will be the cruiser USS Mobile Bay.
Little said the need to send the carrier early was “not a decision based solely on the challenges posed by Iran.”
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/pentagon-sends-carrier-to-the-middle-east-early/
The U.S. Navy has had two carriers operating in the Middle East for quite some time. It usually rotates one of the two carriers into the Persian Gulf for several weeks at a time while the other operates in the Arabian Sea, providing air support for the war in Afghanistan.
Today, Pentagon spokesman George Little confirmed that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has agreed to a recent request from U.S. Central Command to maintain a two-carrier presence in the Middle East.
In September the U.S. was going to go down to one carrier, as the USS Enterprise would not be replaced after it left the region. To prevent that from happening the Stennis has had its deployment orders changed from the Pacific to the Middle East.
Little says the Stennis is being sent so that there is no gap in between two carrier assignments to the region. Also being sent on the deployment will be the cruiser USS Mobile Bay.
Little said the need to send the carrier early was “not a decision based solely on the challenges posed by Iran.”
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/pentagon-sends-carrier-to-the-middle-east-early/
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