Posted on 11/22/2012 10:53:10 AM PST by Nachum
The U.S. aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf will temporarily decline due to unexpected repairs and unusual maintenance problems, the Navy said on Wednesday.
The USS Nimitz was expected to be deployed to the Gulf early next year to relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is now stationed in the region, but will be delayed due to the need for extensive repairs on a failed propulsion pump.
The USS Eisenhower is being sent back to the U.S for repairs to its flight deck. It will remain in Norfolk, Virginia, for two months and then return to the Middle East early next year to complete its deployment.
The Navy plans to send the USS Harry S Truman to the region early next year to restore the two-carrier presence. The USS John C. Stennis is already in the area.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Why not just send the sumbeeches a gilt invitation?
You got it all wrong guys. Bernanke turned off the dollar printing pump so budget cuts are in effect to the military. Our Navy is sounding more like the UK’s all the time. Where the UK goes the USA follows.
Maybe clearing the airspace for Israel to bomb Iran. Plausible deniability.
Certainly not something Bathhouse Barry Bengahzi would do, though.
And Enterprise just came back from her final deployment, and will be inactivated next week.
Enterprise has been rode hard and is being put away wet after 50+ years of outstanding service to the nation, but theoretically (it would be expensive, and very tough on the crew/airwing) she could be sent out for another 6 months - maybe even 8 months to cover the gap.
The USN builds the possibility of extra on-station time into it’s carrier deployment schedules (Abraham Lincoln’s 2002 deployment was extended by several months so she could participate in Iraqi Freedom), and most carriers (ones not being retired) spend the first six months or so of post-deployment as a ready-surge capable deck. The Navy usually underestimates the service life of nuclear reactor cores by at least 10% (the Nimitz’s have 30-year cores but get refueled at 25 years, for instance) so Enterprise’s rocks should have a decent amount of life left in them.
From Navy Office of Information
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy has directed the temporary return of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower(CVN 69) from her current overseas deployment, allowing the ship to return home for two months before sending it back to the Middle East region.
The unusual move is being made to accommodate delays due to emergent repair work on USS Nimitz (CVN 68). The Bremerton-based carrier was expected to deploy to the region to relieve Eisenhower early next year. Nimitz is now expected to deploy once repair work is complete.
Bringing Eisenhower back home to its homeport in Norfolk, Va. in December will permit the Navy to resurface the ship's flight deck and make it available to return and remain in the Middle East region for several more months. This decision also provides the ship's crew a welcome holiday respite from what will become nearly 10 months on station.
The USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Carrier Strike Group, currently deployed to the region, will continue providing carrier presence in the CENTCOM area of responsibility. Stennis departed its homeport of Bremerton in August.
Uh-huh...
Fortunately, my brothers and sisters in the Air Force are always around the Persian Gulf. Our airfields don’t need to go home for repairs and as luck would have it, they are a lot harder to sink too. Much respect for the Navy, but love for my Air Force.
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