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ABOARD THE USS HARRY S. TRUMAN - U.S. pilots flying missions over Iraq come to the region expecting a host of challenges, including swirling sandstorms and urban battlefields filled with a mix of enemies and civilians. But Naval aviators flying off the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman said one of the newest difficulties has been the least expected: navigating increasingly crowded airspace in a region that has experienced the world's fastest airline growth in recent years. The mix of U.S. combat aircraft and civilian planes from booming Gulf airlines illustrates the growing divide in the Middle East between countries...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2005 – Hundreds of color photos depicting the trials and triumphs of the Navy and Marine Corps troops during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom adorn the pages of "Defending Freedom," a new hardcover coffee-table book. Seaman Apprentice Vincent L. Carrillo stands watch on the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman, Feb. 4, 2003. The Truman and Carrier Air Wing 3 were on a six-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Photo by Seaman Ryan O'Connor, USN Proceeds of the book's sale will be used to provide financial assistance to sailors, Marines and their...

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem meets with reporters on the Truman. It's a familiar duty. He was a Pentagon spokesman during the war in Afghanistan. The greater media access in this conflict has been ''going great,'' he says. Photos by Chris Tyree / The Virginian-Pilot.ABOARD THE TRUMAN -- He was the voice of the last war, standing before the Pentagon press corps almost daily to update the world about the progress of U.S. forces invading Afghanistan. Now he's at war, in charge of two Norfolk-based carrier strike groups -- known as battle groups before the chief of naval operations recently...

<p>The U.S. military is moving a dozen or more missile-firing ships from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, bordering Saudi Arabia, as Gen. Tommy Franks puts the final pieces in place for a war with Iraq.</p> <p>As the ships were preparing to move as early as last night, the Air Force announced it had deployed an unspecified number of B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to bases closer to Iraq.</p>

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its battle group finished training Tuesday in the Caribbean and began heading overseas, the Navy said. The Navy would say only that the battle group deployed from near Puerto Rico in support of the nation's war against terrorism and would meet other contingencies as needed. But the Roosevelt is expected to join three aircraft carriers that have moved into striking range of Iraq. The Roosevelt departed Norfolk Jan. 6 for mandatory training before deployment. "She's been certified (to deploy) and now she's commencing her deployment," said Cmdr....

PORT SAID, Egypt: Seven US warships crossed the Suez Canal on Tuesday heading to the Gulf to join the US military buildup in preparation for a possible attack on Iraq. The seven amphibious ships, based in Norfolk, Virginia, carry more than 4,750 sailors and 7,000 Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. They are the USS Kearsarge, Bataan, Saipan, Ponce, Gunston Hall, Ashland and Portland. In Washington, defence officials said on Monday that the USS Abraham Lincoln, one of the Navy's latest Nimitz-class carriers with more than 5,000 sailors and naval aviators aboard, had re-entered the Arabian Sea over the...

28 Jan 2003 USS Harry S. Truman carrier in joint exercise with Albanian army TIRANA, Albania (AP) _ The American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is in the Adriatic Sea for maneuvers with the Albanian military, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto also is participating in the exercise, which began Saturday and is set to end Feb. 10, a ministry statement said. The exercise, held near the Albanian port of Vlora, 85 miles southwest of Tirana, is intended to help Albania's military reach NATO standards. Albania hopes to become a member of the...

ABOARD USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (AP) -- Around Iraq's borders, the Pentagon is struggling to persuade allies to host U.S. troops and warplanes needed for a possible attack. At sea, however, America's military power is unhindered and growing to possibly the biggest concentration of warships since the 1991 Gulf War. Imposing naval flotillas - with aircraft carriers as their mighty centerpieces - are taking greater prominence in strategic planning for a possible war against Iraq as obstacles are raised to ground deployments, officers say. "I think all of the aircraft carriers will serve as a floating air base," said Capt....