Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Third US Aircraft Carrier Returning to Gulf

More Bread (JP Morgan food cards), Circuses (Hollywood gossip) and Gladiators, it smells like the US Presidential election season is underway.

From kitsapsun.com

BREMERTON — Bremerton-based aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is returning to the Middle East much sooner than expected.

The ship came home to Naval Base Kitsap on March 2 after seven months of launching planes into Iraq and Afghanistan. Generally, it wouldn't go back to the Fifth Fleet area of responsibility for four to five years, after a deployment to the Western Pacific and a maintenance period. But with Iran making threats, crew members learned Saturday they'll be leaving again in late August for eight months.Two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups — USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Enterprise — are now in the Middle East. The Navy has doubled the number of minesweepers in the region, to eight, and moved a converted amphibious transport and docking ship, the USS Ponce, into the Persian Gulf to serve as a floating staging base for military operations or humanitarian assistance. Its first job will be as a hub for mine-clearing, according to Pentagon officials.

Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/jul/09/uss-stennis-going-right-back-to-mideast/#ixzz20GHUYxoc

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