Free Republic

The NATO Alliance announced earlier this week that Patriot missles will be deployed in Turkey... The USS Eisenhowser was reported to arrived in the area yesterday off the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean. It holds 8,000 soldiers and eight fighter bomber squandrons. The U.S. Senate... has voted for the Pentagon to present military options available on Syria... ...

The USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a potential ground intervention. While the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to launch such action "within days" if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decides to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the Times reports.

The USS Eisenhower...arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preperation for a potential ground intervention. ...

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...

The US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN-69 passed through the Suez Canal on Wednesday, carrying 113,000 tons of cargo en route to the Persian Gulf. Sources told the state-run MENA news service that the aircraft carrier was escorted by four US warships and special Suez Canal Authority tug boats.

Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will relieve the Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG as Commander, Task Force 50 July 2, beginning a routine deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR). Under Task Force 50, Truman CSG will conduct close air support missions in support of coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan while conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the AOR. Eisenhower CSG has operated in the 5th Fleet AOR since Jan. 25 with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 aircraft flying 2,970 combat sorties and 17,730 cumulative flight hours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)....

As we first reported last week, in an article that was met with much original skepticism, the Pentagon has now confirmed that a fleet of 12 warships has passed the Suez Canal, and is now likely awaiting orders to support the escalation in the Persian Gulf. The attached image from Stratfor shows the latest positioning of US aircraft carrier groups as of June 23: the USS Harry Truman (CVN-75) is now right next to USS Eisenhower (CVN 69), both of which areAs for the catalyst the two carriers may be anticipating, we provide the following update from the Gulf Daily...

The planes coming in from missions over Afghanistan for a night landing touch down with a thud, the runway so short and narrow that there is no room for error. It's the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a US Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea that provides air support for coalition forces fighting Islamic Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The floating airport, or the "city at sea" as its captain Dee L. Mewbourne likes to call it, provides nearly a third of air missions against the Taliban. "We are providing almost daily support to the Operation Enduring Freedom...

Iran's navy commander has confirmed the flight of an Iranian aircraft near a US warship in the waters of the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, CNN quoted a senior US military officer as saying that an F27 aircraft of the Iranian Navy flew as low as 300 feet near the USS Eisenhower on April 21. "US warships tread the free waters of the Gulf of Oman and it is Iranian navy's duty to conduct routine surveillance flights in the region," Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the Iranian Navy commander, said in a Tuesday news conference. "The F27 plane of the navy flew above...

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell today credited the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower for its disciplined response last week when an Iranian military aircraft flew within 1,000 yards of it in the Gulf of Oman. An Iranian navy maritime patrol aircraft flew near the carrier April 21 as it had finished routine replenishment-at-sea operations, a Navy official confirmed on background. The aircraft remained in the area for about 20 minutes before it flew away. The incident occurred as Iranian forces were preparing to conduct exercises in the Gulf. Morrell played down the incident, saying close encounters...

Legendary astronaut and former Navy pilot received a pair of honorary Naval Astronaut Wings in a ceremony aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) March 10 in recognition for his dedicated service to the Navy and in the field of space exploration. Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon July 20, 1969, was aboard Ike as part of the "Legends of Aerospace" tour sponsored by Morale Entertainment. "Today is a special occasion for all of naval aviation. As you can imagine, it is a tremendous honor for me to present Neil Armstrong with astronaut wings,"...