US Deploys ACC 4 Months Early To Persian Gulf

The Bremerton-based aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, will deploy four months early to the Persian Gulf. To thank sailors for their service, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited U.S. Naval Base Kitsap at Bremerton Wednesday.

Speaking to the more than 2,000 men and women of the Stennis strike group, Panetta said U.S. military needs them. "I understand that its tough, we're asking an awful lot of each of you. But frankly, you are the best I have and when the world calls we have to respond," he told them.

www.king5.com...

4 months early? Are they taking Bibi's threats seriously, he'll attack with or without US support? You betcha.
The cost of deployment is in the billions for this ship I'm sure, so... They have to posture well.

Also, how does the US ACC and 5th fleet plan on protecting themselves from hundreds of guided missiles from Iranian shore?

First: Who in the world dialed 911 and called the US?

when the world calls we have to respond,

I dont think anyone even picked up the phone

Second: I like the Q & A and how vague Panetta is.

Q: How much of this has to do with the conflict between Israel and Iran? Is this a positioning effort?

PANETTA: It deals with a lot of threats in the Middle East right now. Obviously Iran is one of those threats that we have to -- we have to be able to focus on and make sure that we're prepared to deal with any threats that could emerge out of Iran.

Secondly, it is the turmoil in Syria, and we're obviously following that closely as well.
There also are tanker threats that come from Iran that threaten some of the tanker -- the oil traffic that goes through the straits, and that's another concern.

From your source. Must protect the oil ofcourse

Q: Do you have any more details about the kind of assistance the military can provide to Jordan or Turkey in the case of Syrian refugees?

PANETTA: You know, dealing with Syria, obviously we've tried to focus on three areas of importance. One is to do what we can to assist on the humanitarian effort

Genuine concern for Syria?, i am skeptical as well.

Great Find Calgarian. You never know what might slip out during a Q&A

Will this then replace the Enterprise then.....after whatever demise it has?

2nd line....short question.

It is worth mentioning that the Navy announced this early deployment months ago. Just saying so people don't conclude that some urgent event has occurred.

What is interesting is that it wasn't supposed to be rotated back to the 5th fleet for 4-5 years.

Could the 8 month deployment be a indicator that the likelihood of something popping off is quite good? That is a significant amount of time in the gulf.

Can anyone with navel experience offer a opinion on the deployment time of this battle group, is this indicative of some kind of protocol?

I would be interested in seeing what addition hardware is added to the Stennis, i am referring to something not a commonly deployed via carrier unless tensions were expected to skyrocket...

Originally posted by METACOMET
It is worth mentioning that the Navy announced this early deployment months ago. Just saying so people don't conclude that some urgent event has occurred.

What is interesting is that it wasn't supposed to be rotated back to the 5th fleet for 4-5 years.

Can you link the article were months ago this was made public? I can only find articles dating back a week at most. Thanks, just want to read all articles.

much appreciated

Originally posted by METACOMET
It is worth mentioning that the Navy announced this early deployment months ago. Just saying so people don't conclude that some urgent event has occurred.

What is interesting is that it wasn't supposed to be rotated back to the 5th fleet for 4-5 years.

I see your noting the 4-5 year jump as something unusual...and Indeed, it seems to be by that.

The overall story, and the fact this may have been planned in advance is interesting and of course, in context, the run up to the Iran War is something we were debating with gusto right along side time projections for the imagined impact of an Asteroid named Elenin...for time frames. Has it really been that long? wow..it has.

I think the pieces are all about in place for the jump off.... Why can't they all they go to Disneyland together...or hey, even take Bibi, Obama, the Ayatollah and the Saudi King and throw them all into a locked cage fight. No one gets to leave until there is no one left alive or no one left with the desire to fight anymore, whichever comes first.

reply to post by MDDoxs


Here you are, Judge. July 9th. Not quite 2 months.

www.kitsapsun.com...

EDIT: Removed pic due to copyright, see Schuyler's deployments below.

It's really a matter of context. For the last few years the Navy has been running on a policy of:

"TWO carriers in the gulf 75% of the time, therefore ONE carrier in the Gulf 25% of the time."

With the Stennis leaving early, this policy is ramped up to what, at least for this deployment, is TWO carriers in the Gulf 100% of the time." In a few months the Eisenhower will be coming home, and that will be the time we see if ths new policy continues or whether they revert to their old way of doing things.

This is tough for the crew of the Stennis because they just got back from a patrol a few months ago. This ALSO shows how tough it is to keep the pace up. Although the Navy has eleven carriers, with the retirement of the Enterprise they'll be down to ten, which will remain the case until 2015 when the USS Ford enters the fleet. At any given time THREE of the carriers are in a maintenance mode and unavilable. That's SEVEN deployable carriers. ONE carrier is permanently forward deployed in Japan because of China, TWO in the Gulf.

Doing public math here, umm, err, that leaves four free carriers, at least two of which have to be preparing for deployment, which takes a few months. They have to qualify the strike groups and the aviators, so a lot of their time is spent in preparations.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Why can't they all they go to Disneyland together...or hey, even take Bibi, Obama, the Ayatollah and the Saudi King and throw them all into a locked cage fight. No one gets to leave until there is no one left alive or no one left with the desire to fight anymore, whichever comes first.

Right, LOL. Maybe world leaders could better resolve their differences by smacking each other around with socks filled with #. A duel to the death. Winner take all. It would be an ironic death.

That might knock em down a notch or two. They could sell tickets for stadium seating and use it to pay down some of the debt. Makes more sense than sending kids off to die so the elite can play their tired old game.

Metamap, that map is copyrighted and it's also out of date. Here are the current deployments:

US Navy Carrier Strike Group Deployments:

CVN-65 Enterprise is in the 5th fleet AOR: 3/11/12
CVN-68 Nimitz is in home port Everett, WA (8/21/12)
CVN-69 Eisenhower in 5th Fleet AOR as of 7/17.
CVN-70 Vinson is in home port San Diego, CA (8/1/12)
CVN-71 Roosevelt is at Newport News for RCOH & non-deployable, Avail: late 2012.
CVN-72 Lincoln at home port Norfolk for RCOH & non-deployable, Avail 2016.
CVN-73 Washington is underway in the 7th Fleet AOR (8/22/12)
CVN-74 Stennis is in homeport, Bremerton, WA (8/1/12)
CVN-75 Truman is in homeport, Norfolk, VA (8/15/12)
CVN-76 Reagan is in Bremerton for DPIA & non-deployable until 2013.
CVN-77 Bush is in home port, Norfolk (7/27/12)
-------
CVN-78 Ford construction at Newport News. Avail 2015, replaces Enterprise.
CVN-79 Kennedy construction at Newport News. Avail 2018, replaces Nimitz
CVN-80 Unnamed, planned, Avail 2024, replaces Eisenhower.

8 of 11 in port. 3 of 11 non-deployable

RCOH=Refueling and Complex Overhaul, takes about four years
DPIA=Docked Planned Incremental Availability, takes six months to a year
RIMPAC= Rim of the Pacific. International exercise

The above are all Carrier Strike Groups that normally travel with about 7-8 support ships including one cruiser, several destroyers (usually a squadron of 4), a fast attack supply ship, some frigates ,and a fast attack submarine or maybe two. The support ships are designed to protect the carrier. A CVN is about 100,000 tons displacement and can carry approximately 85 aircraft. CVNs are nuclear powered and run 25 years between refueling, which takes three to four years to complete.

Explanation of Areas of Responsibility (AOR)

3rd Fleet AOR – Eastern & Northern Pacific, Alaska, Bering Sea
4th Fleet AOR – Central & South America
5th Fleet AOR - The Middle East, Arabian Gulf, East Africa
6th Fleet AOR – The Mediterranean Sea, Europe
7th Fleet AOR – Asian Pacific. Indian Ocean to International Date Line

Below are the Amphibious Ready Groups/Marine Expeditionary Units. The main ship here is a "baby" carrier that is about half the size or less of a CVN, about 40,000 tons displacement. It is designed to hold helicopters and Harrier VTOL jets. These guys can pull off a minor invasion, if necessary. They usually carry a handful of tanks. Marines, by and large, are light infantry. LHA is a “Landing Helicopter Assault.” LHD is a “Landing Helicopter Dock.”

LHA-5 Pelelieu is underway in the Pacific (8/22/12)
LHD-1 Wasp is in homeport, Norfolk, VA. (8/1/12)
LHD-2 Essex is in homeport, San Diego (8/15/12)
LHD-3 Kearsarge is underway inn the Atlantic. (8/8/12)
LHD-4 Boxer is in home port, San Diego. Non-deployable undergoing upgrades
LHD-5 Bataan is in home port, Norfolk, VA. (8/1/12)
LHD-6 Bonhomme Richard is underway in the Pacific. (8/15/12)
LHD-7 Iwo Jima is in the 5th Fleet AOR.
LHD-8 Makin Island is in homeport San Diego (8/15/12)
------
LHA-6 America, under construction, Avail. 2014, Northrop Grumann, Pascagoula.
LHA-7 Tripoli, contracted Avail. 2018, HII Ingalls, Pascagoula. $2.3B

Official Status of the Navy: www.navy.mil... (This is not always accurate.)
Carrier Locations: gonavy.jp... (Usually very accurate.)

Decommissioned carriers still floating (except one):

CV-59 Forrestal, 1955—1993, Newport, RI, Fate: scrap or sink
CV-60 Saratoga, 1956—1994, Newport, RI, Fate: scrap or sink
CV-61 Ranger, 1957—1993, Bremerton, WA, Fate: scrap or museum
CV-62 Independence, 1959—1998, Bremerton, WA, Fate: scrap or sink
CV-63 Kitty Hawk, 1961—2009, Bremerton; WA, Fate: reserve until 2015
CV-64 Constellation, 1961—2003, Bremerton, Fate: scrap or sink
CV-66 America, 1965—1996, Fate: scuttled in live fire exercise, 2005
CV-67 John F Kennedy, 1968—2007, Philadelphia, Fate: donation hold

netanyahu has backed himself in to a corner, he either has to climb down from his threats, or strike Iran anyway to show that Israel is still a credible threat. Obama doesn't want a war with Iran . so Israel is screwed.

My money is on netanyahu attacking Iran anyway to try and save face.

Originally posted by rigel4
netanyahu has backed himself in to a corner, he either has to climb down from his threats, or strike Iran anyway to show that Israel is still a credible threat. Obama doesn't want a war with Iran . so Israel is screwed.

My money is on netanyahu attacking Iran anyway to try and save face.

I'm usually not one to agree on one sided things for this fight..but on this, I can't help but agree. All sides have gotten wild and reckless with their statements, but Iran is one I've noticed leave themselves room and ways out, even in their most bombastic statements.

Israel has gotten to speaking in near absolutes and that leaves little or not way to back up, even if reverse the the only sane direction to go. I think back to last Fall and the stories in October of Israeli's hitting the street in numbers exceeding 400,000 people....and why? Their mortgage costs are too high and it pissed them off.

We're happy and setting records to see 10's of thousands appear at anything by a formally planned and organized event. Perhaps those 400,000 that were pissed about Mortgages could see about changing their leadership before, due to war, they have no homes left at all to be mad about.

Stennis is supposedly going to replace another group who will rotate home....
Net result same o same o for strength
EXCEPT between the ime Stennis arrives, and the departing group sets sail for CONUS>
This interim.....this is the window of maximun firepower which will fade rapidly once the extra group goes...

I read the Stennis was the only carrier available that had a qualified air wing and had all it's underway training and qualifications complete. So it got the call.

I've been in that situation before, but with a small boy not a carrier. It sucked.

The Big E starts decomming 01 Dec.

Originally posted by rigel4


My money is on netanyahu attacking Iran anyway to try and save face.

My money is on Obama attacking Iran anyways to try and save face, before the election.