Posted on 02/21/2002 5:08:44 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
Flying thousands of sorties over land-locked Afghanistan and dropping millions of pounds in ordnance, the Navy's carrier battle groups became a star weapon in the war on terrorism.But with the air campaign easing in Afghanistan and the White House turning attention to the possibility of military action in Iraq and other nations, the recently deployed USS John F. Kennedy and other carriers in the region could take on a new role in combatting terror.
"The focus of the war will remain on Afghanistan, but the deployment [of U.S. troops] to the Philippines should be viewed as a significant indication of the administration's intention to wage its fight on terrorism on a global scale," said retired Rear Adm. Stephen Baker, senior fellow with the Washington-based think tank Center for Defense Information.
Military contingency plans also are being refined for Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Indonesia and Yemen, Baker said. Special forces and U.S. intelligence agencies are active overtly and covertly in all of these countries with local militias or militaries.
Last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell testified before the Senate Budget Committee as the administration approached a decision about how to remove Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Senior officials said there was a consensus within the administration he must be overthrown and that plans to do so are being discussed. No military strike is imminent, said military officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
Though Taliban bombing has tapered, it is unlikely the United States will pull carrier presence out of the region completely, and it is likely the Jacksonville-based Kennedy will remain stationed off the coast of Pakistan for its entire deployment, Baker and several other defense experts said. The need for air support over Afghanistan will continue as long as ground troops remain in the area.
Baker held a number of key positions during his military career, including chief of staff for Naval Forces Central Command in Manama, Bahrain, where he was involved in the execution of sanctions against Iraq and the evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Somalia. His last active duty assignment was as the Navy's top testing official.
The Kennedy completed its final phase of training yesterday and deployed overseas to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt. A return date for the Theodore Roosevelt and other ships of that battle group hasn't been announced. If the Kennedy steams directly to the Arabian Sea, it would arrive in early March.
The last time the carrier flew combat missions was 1991 during Operation Desert Storm against Iraqi forces. The ship launched 114 strikes and 2,895 sorties, with the carrier's air wing flying 11,263 combat hours and delivering more than 3.5 million pounds of ordnance in the conflict.
These floating airports carry about 50 jet strike fighters. They have a host of support aircraft and travel in the company of destroyers, cruisers, submarines and frigates. Aircraft carriers are the nation's front line of defense, the Navy's wartime trump card, and they have been dominating the war overseas.
A Navy war
Warplanes have flown and continue to fly about 70 sorties a day over Afghanistan from the carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Vinson, Enterprise and John C. Stennis. The Roosevelt and Stennis still are stationed in the Arabian Sea. The USS Kitty Hawk was used as a platform for special operations helicopters and troops operating off the coast of Pakistan.
The Navy has been responsible for about half of all missions in Enduring Freedom, Baker said. But according to defense expert John Pike, head of the Alexandria, Va.-based think tank GlobalSecurity.org, the U.S. Air Force B-1 and B-52 bombers have unloaded more ordnance over Afghanistan.
"The carriers have certainly been one of the more visible components over there, although they have not dropped as many bombs as the Air Force bombers," Pike said.
The Roosevelt battle group led an exhausting bombing campaign in Afghanistan and has remained at sea for a near-record 151 continuous days. The all-time record is held by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during its 1980 deployment to the Arabian Sea with 154 days without a port call.
The Kennedy will be a centerpiece for any operations the United States is involved with in that area, Baker said.
"Their mission is just as critical and just as important as the aircraft involved Oct. 7," he said.
The daily sorties being flown from carriers in the region include reconnaissance, surveillance and bombing. The requirement for the presence of two carrier battle groups in the region and bombers at the U.S. Air Force base in Diego Garcia, about 3,000 miles south of Afghanistan, will exist for some time, Baker said. The need for bombing raids on al-Qaida forces trying to regroup will require precision-guided munitions, like those on carriers, to be on call.
"Flexibility is the key for carrier folks," Baker said. "They're mobile forces that can respond to anything that comes up ... and it [the Kennedy] is certainly the ready carrier and will be tasked for the next six months."
The carrier weapon
The aircraft carrier battle group is the best military instrument afforded to the United States and its security strategy because of its capabilities and versatility, particularly that of projecting air power and long-range missile strikes without relying on overseas bases, several defense analysts said.
"With an aircraft carrier, we can go anywhere. We don't have to ask permission of any country," said Rear Adm. Steven Tomaszeski, Kennedy battle group commander. "But let's go back up to the beginning of the war.
"We needed the two carriers there because they gave the war-fighting CINC [commander in chief] over there the ability to strike at an enemy from what is American territory with absolutely no restrictions," he said.
With two or three battle groups deployed at all times, the United States is able to maintain a foothold in hostile areas with few allies and no ground bases. The carrier protects American interests and assets overseas, also deterring escalation among warring nations.
The United States has 12 aircraft carriers, including three conventionally powered like the Kennedy. Another nuclear-powered, the USS Ronald Reagan, is under construction in Newport News, Va.
"It is definitely one of the reasons the United States is the sole remaining superpower," Pike, of GlobalSecurity.org, said recently. "The United States alone has the capacity on a couple of weeks' notice to have a couple of aircraft carriers show up in your neighborhood ... and immediately have the largest and most capable air force in that part of the world. There is no other country in the world that can do that."
This report contains information from Knight Ridder Newspaper services.
And FIVE of them are operating around Afghanistan? I question the intelligence of putting that many in a small area.
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