Posted on 04/30/2008 5:17:22 PM PDT by SandRat
MEXICO CITY, April 30, 2008 The movement of a second aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf this week doesnt 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 reporters 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 dont 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 its 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 hes increasingly concerned about Irans 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 Irans activities. That report is expected in the next couple of weeks.
Gates told reporters last night that he does not believe theres 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 theyre up against in Afghanistan. They are changing their tactics, and we will have to clearly continue to adapt our tactics as well, he said.
Aaah, he's just saying that because the Navy runs Windows NT.
Probably just normal turnover.
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.
You are mistaken.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Watch Carrier on PBS tonight and you'll see the Nimitz operating in the Persian Gulf.
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.
Bump
How much experience do you have serving on a deployed carrier?
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
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.
That's what I thought.
(I was Air Force)
That explains why you don't have a clue regarding carrier ops.
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