Gates Calls Arrival of Second Carrier in Gulf ‘Reminder’ of U.S. Presence

American Forces Press Service ^ | Donna Miles

[SandRat]

MEXICO CITY, April 30, 2008 – The movement of a second aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf this week doesn’t signal an escalation of the U.S. naval presence -- but could serve as a “reminder” of it to countries in the region, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here last night.

Gates did not specifically name Iran when responding to a reporter’s question about the arrival this week of USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf.

“The size of our naval presence in the Gulf rises and falls constantly,” he said. “This deployment has been planned for a long time. I don’t think we will have two carriers there for a protracted period of time. So I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder.”

Pressed by another reporter, Gates denied that heightened Defense Department criticism of Iran means it’s laying the foundation for a military strike.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters last week that recently manufactured Iranian weapons found in and around Basra, Iraq, prove that Iran continues meddling in Iraq in ways that hamper progress and put U.S. and Iraqi lives at risk.

Mullen said at an April 25 Pentagon news conference that he’s “increasingly concerned about Iran’s activity, not just in Iraq, but throughout the region.

“I believe recent events, especially the Basra operation, have revealed just how much and just how far Iran is reaching into Iraq to foment instability,” he said.

Mullen said he believes diplomatic, financial and international pressure is the best way to pressure Iran to reverse course. But "we are not taking any military elements off the table," he said.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq who is in line for the top U.S. Central Command job, is preparing a briefing that details Iran’s activities. That report is expected in the next couple of weeks.

Gates told reporters last night that he does not believe there’s been any significant increase in Iranian support for the Taliban and others opposing the government in Afghanistan. “There is, as best as I can tell, a continuing flow, but I would still characterize it as relatively modest,” he said.

The nature of the Taliban threat has changed, he said. Large-scale firefights against Afghan and coalition forces have evolved into terrorist acts, many using improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers. Gates noted that Afghan President Hamid Karzai narrowly escaped such an attack on his life earlier this week when Taliban gunmen attacked a military parade in Kabul.

The secretary said he views the latest tactics as a sign that the Taliban recognizes the strength and firepower of the coalition forces they’re up against in Afghanistan. “They are changing their tactics, and we will have to clearly continue to adapt our tactics as well,” he said.

[BlazingArizona]

Gates Calls Arrival of Second Carrier in Gulf ‘Reminder’ of U.S. Presence

Aaah, he's just saying that because the Navy runs Windows NT.

[homeguard]

Probably just normal turnover.

[Tallguy]

By “Persian Gulf” I take them to mean (northern) Indian Ocean (or even the Red Sea). I don’t think you’d actually push a carrier past the Strait of Hormuz or try to conduct flight ops in crowded Gulf waters.

[A.A. Cunningham]

You are mistaken.

[Tallguy]

Seriously? They’d actually send a CV into the Gulf? Isn’t that a little risky given all the anti-ship (Silkworm) missiles lining the Iranian coastline?

[Drew68]

By “Persian Gulf” I take them to mean (northern) Indian Ocean (or even the Red Sea). I don’t think you’d actually push a carrier past the Strait of Hormuz or try to conduct flight ops in crowded Gulf waters.

Carriers routinely sail and conduct flight ops in the Gulf and have port calls in Bahrain and Jebel Ali. Carriers have a shallow draft in relation to their size and can steam most places in the gulf.

It can get a bit crowded, though.

[Drew68]

Seriously? They’d actually send a CV into the Gulf? Isn’t that a little risky given all the anti-ship (Silkworm) missiles lining the Iranian coastline?

We transited Hormuz several times on my last cruise on Eisenhower during 2006-07.

Believe it or not, the navy actually gives Iran a courtesy notification when we transit.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Of course they do and it's SOP to have both a CVN and an amphibious assault ship in the Gulf simultaneously. We don't let the threat of what the Iranians might do dictate what we do.

070522-N-8157C-240 ARABIAN SEA (May 22, 2007) - (from foreground) USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) transit the Gulf of Oman. The three ships are flagships for three different strike groups; the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, and the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, which are on regularly, scheduled deployments in support of Maritime Operations. Maritime Operations help set the conditions for security and stability, as well as complement counter-terrorism and security efforts to regional nations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Denny Cantrell (RELEASED)

Stennis, Nimitz and Bonhomme Richard Enter the Persian Gulf

During the early stages of OIF there were six amphibious assault ships in the Gulf simultaneously in addition to the big deck carriers.

030420-N-7128D-011 North Arabian Gulf (Apr. 20, 2003) – The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) moves into position as the amphibious assault ships of Commander, Task Force Fifty One (CTF-51) come together in an unprecedented formation during operations in the North Arabian Gulf. This marked the first time that six large deck amphibious ships from the East and West coasts have deployed together in one area of operation. Led by the flag ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1), the ships in the second row from bottom to top are USS Saipan (LHA 2) and USS Kearsarge (LHD 3); and the third row of ships are USS Boxer (LHD 4), USS Bataan (LHD 5) and USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). CTF-51 led Navy amphibious forces in the Arabian Gulf region during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 32 ships of CTF-51 composed the largest amphibious force assembled since the Inchon landing, during the Korean War. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Tom Daily. (RELEASED)

Watch Carrier on PBS tonight and you'll see the Nimitz operating in the Persian Gulf.

[Salvavida]

Yep. The USS Lincoln battle group was with the USS Essex amphibious ready group in the Persian Gulf in 1998. We took turns pulling into UAE for port calls.

Remember, the battle group has nasty defenses. And even if Iran did take a poke at a CVN, the world would lament the absence of the rich Persian culture from its midst.

[Solitar]

We should have 7 or 8 carriers deployed at all times because we have 12 carriers. They should spend only 3 months out of 12 at home (3 months, not 6 months). That allows 3 carrier groups in the Northern Indian Ocean, 2 carrier groups in the Mediterranean, 2 carrier groups in the Western Pacific, maybe 1 carrier group in the Atlantic (and 2 or 3 at home not undergoing overhaul or repairs should be ready to go on a week's notice). No? The USS Saratoga was in port for repair and overhaul maybe 12 months out of 45 months during WWII. One deployed stretch lasted 12 months. There was a war on then. There is a war on now.

[GitmoSailor]

Bump

[A.A. Cunningham]

How much experience do you have serving on a deployed carrier?

[btcusn]

How much experience do you have serving on a deployed carrier?

Same question crossed my mind.
Couple of other words deleted so I wouldn’t get Jim fired up though.
Jack

[Solitar]

Me: none (I was Air Force).
My father served on a destroyer in the Pacific from before Pearl Harbor (and he was in Pearl on 12/7/41) to after the Japanese surrender — the entire duration of WWII deployed in the Pacific — and he only got home on leave after the war.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Me: none

That's what I thought.

(I was Air Force)

That explains why you don't have a clue regarding carrier ops.

[Solitar]

If the carriers had two crews like the ballistic missile subs have (a 'Blue' crew and a 'Gold' crew then, like those submarines, the carriers could also be deployed on patrol two-thirds of the time -- allowing eight of our twelve carriers to be out there projecting US military force.

[Solitar]

Additional Navy link describing the Blue and Gold crews and a cycle for the submarine averaging 77 days on patrol and 35 days in port.
The US Navy -- Fact File