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USS IWO JIMA , At Sea (NNS) -- USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and USS Nashville (LPD 13), both assigned to the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), successfully and safely transited the Suez Canal, Aug. 20. As part of Commander, Task Force 59, both ships, and Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)) provided crucial departure assistance to American citizens in Lebanon looking to leave the troubled region. USS Cole (DDG 67) and USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) remained on station off Lebanon, ready to provide additional assistance as needed. “Every Sailor and Marine...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – The Defense Department evacuated 957 U.S. citizens from Lebanon to Cyprus yesterday aboard the contracted cruise ship Orient Queen, bringing the total to 12,870 since the crisis in Lebanon began July 16, DoD officials said today. Also, DoD airlifted the first humanitarian supplies promised to those in the war-torn country, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Three helicopters delivered three kits of medical supplies to Red Cross personnel. Each of the three medical kits has enough medicine and supplies to meet the needs of 10,000 people for three months. Seven other kits have arrived in Cyprus...

NORFOLK - More than 1,000 American citizens were plucked off a beach in Beirut by landing craft today and transported out to sea and the safety of the Norfolk-based amphibious transport dock Nashville. The ship then took them to Cyprus 140 miles away to board commercial aircraft for home. A similar long day is planned again Friday for the Nashville and at least three other Norfolk-based amphibious ships that were scheduled to join in the evacuations. "It's like a giant slumber party," Capt. Dee Mewbourne, the Nashville's commanding officer, said by satellite telephone today.

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va., Aug. 29, 2005 – USS Saipan, USS Nashville and USS Nicholas returned to Naval Station Norfolk Aug. 25 from a three-month “surge” deployment. The ships surged May 25 under the Navy’s Fleet Response Plan. The Navy developed FRP to find new ways of operating, training, manning and maintaining the fleet so as to improve combat power and readiness, particularly in the ongoing battle against terrorism. Unlike most ships, these three deployed with less than two months to prepare, but the sailors on board understood why, said Vice Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, Commander U.S. 2nd Fleet, at the...

Liberia Mission Winds Down By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2003 - The U.S. Joint Task Force that participated in stability operations in Liberia is pulling out, Defense Department officials said. Military forces from the Economic Community of West African States have succeeded in establishing a safe area so humanitarian operations in Liberia can proceed, said officials. American forces will leave the country Oct. 1. The USS Carter Hall and USS Nashville left the area over the past weekend with 1,550 soldiers and Marines. The USS Iwo Jima still is in the area and will return...

By GLENN McKENZIE Associated Press Writer MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Three U.S. military helicopters landed at Liberia's high-walled U.S. Embassy on Wednesday, a day after President Bush promised to send a first American team to Liberia's war-divided capital. U.S. officials declined to immediately confirm whether the helicopters contained the promised six- to 10-member U.S. military team. The team is moving in as Nigerian troops at Monrovia's airport - the vanguard of a West African peacekeeping force - prepared to enter the capital for the first time. American authorities barred journalists from the embassy for the landing. They would confirm only...

Thu July 31, 2003 06:29 PM ET By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lead ships in a U.S. Navy Amphibious Ready Group are expected to arrive off the coast of Liberia by Saturday, but no decision has been made on whether to put any of the 2,300 Marines aboard on the ground in the West African country, U.S. officials said on Thursday. A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States will have "forces closer to Liberia available for whatever purpose the president may decide may be necessary." The official added that "at the moment,...