For The First Time Since World War II, No US Carriers Are Deployed Anywhere In The World
1
January, 2016
Last
weekend, when commenting on China's public demonstration of its one
and only aircraft carrier, which China then proceeded to sail in
close proximity to Taiwan to make a clear diplomatic "statement",
we noted something tangentially troubling: " a quick look at the
latest positioning of US aircraft carriers, amphibious ready groups,
and other navies around the globe shows a gaping hole in the region
of the East or South China Sea, and even in proximity to Japan, a
place where the US navy traditionally has maintained at least one
carrier group. In fact, according to Stratfor, the only active
carrier group is USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG, conducting naval
operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of
U.S. national security interests in Europe."
As
it turned out, the Eisenhower carrier group was on its way back to
dock in Norfolk, VA, which means that for the next several weeks, not
only will there be no U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Middle East
or the South China Sea, but as Fox News reports, "there will be
no American aircraft carriers deployed at sea anywhere else in the
world, despite a host of worldwide threats facing the United States."
The
absence of a deployed U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, long seen as a
symbol of American power projection, is noteworthy. According to Fox,
it is believed to be the first time since World War II that at least
one U.S. aircraft carrier has not been deployed.
As
it further reports, the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and her
strike group returned to Norfolk, Va., Friday following a seven-month
deployment. The Ike launched hundreds of airstrikes against ISIS in
Iraq and Syria from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Two destroyers in the carrier's strike group also saw combat. The USS
Nitze and USS Mason were attacked in the Red Sea when allegedly
Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen launched cruise missiles, which
were intercepted by the Mason. A retaliatory strike by the Nitze
destroyed the radar installations in Yemen in October, even though in
the meantime speculation emerged that the attack may have been
coordinated by Saudi interests in an attempt to stage another "false
flag" attack on US military assets.
The
latest summary of US naval forces around the globe as of the last
week of December is shown in the map below courtesy of Stratfor. As
of this moment, the Eisenhower has crossed the Atlantic and is back
at Norfolk base.
The
Eisenhower’s replacement carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, was
delayed by more than six months in the shipyards and will not be able
to replace the Ike well into 2017, according to Navy officials.
While
there is no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Middle East right now, there
is a large deck U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship, the LHD-8 Makin
Island, with thousands of Marines on board as well as helicopters and
some jets to respond to a crisis, according to officials.
Still,
before it becomes the topic of a twitter rant by the President-elect
and his opponents, the Navy told Fox News the U.S. military has other
jets available to make up for the aircraft carrier gap in the Middle
East and elsewhere in the world. The Navy can also “surge” a
carrier now in port to deploy if necessary.
“We
are not going to discuss the timing of operational movements of
carrier strike groups into and out of the U.S. Central Command area
of responsibility,” said Capt. Terry Shannon, a U.S. Naval Forces
Central Command spokesman, in a statement to Fox News. Centcom is
tasked with control over all U.S. forces in the Middle East and
Afghanistan.
It’s
not the first time there was a carrier gap in the Middle East. Last
fall, the U.S. Navy relied on a French aircraft carrier to fill the
void when the USS Theodore Roosevelt returned home. At the time it
was the first gap in carrier coverage in the Middle East since 2007.
Other
factors contribute to the U.S. Navy not having an aircraft carrier
deployed anywhere in the world right now. From 2011 to 2013, the Navy
maintained two carriers in the Persian Gulf on the orders of
Centcom's then-commander, Gen. James Mattis, who is now
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, which
likely means that the current carrier gap is temporary until Mattis
takes his post after the Trump inauguration.
The
congressionally mandated budget cuts known as sequestration have also
been felt on the waterfront since 2011. After billions of dollars
were cut from the Navy’s budget, ships such as the George H.W. Bush
were forced to prolong their time in the shipyards, which had a
ripple effect down the line. If the Bush had left the shipyard on
time, she would have relieved the Ike in the Gulf or the
Mediterranean, officials tell Fox News.
Fox
News reproted that it recently flew out to the USS George H.W. Bush
40 miles off the coast of North Carolina to see the crew's final
tuneup. With jets landing every 60 seconds, the flight deck crew
worked on getting the time between “traps” (landings) down to 40
seconds. Aboard the ship, 18- to 22-year-old men and women work 14
hour days on the flight deck, with little rest -- all this before
deploying and potentially dropping live rounds on ISIS.
“This
is the military equivalent of spring training, because once we
complete this at the end of December, then we'll be going forward and
it'll be real forces that we'll be going flying with and against,”
said Rear Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander, Carrier Strike 2,
interviewed on his perch above the four-acre flight deck known as
“Vulture's Row.”
In
addition to fighting ISIS, the ship's commanding officer says his
crew will be ready to deal with a resurgent Russia or China if
necessary.
“While
we don't have any emergent or pending conflicts with them, certainly,
it is fair to say that we have divergent interests in many cases. and
so we need to be prepared to understand how we will react to that if
necessary,” said Capt. Will Pennington. The Bush recently made
history when on Aug. 8, 2014, a pair of F-18s from the carrier
launched the first airstrikes against ISIS in northern Iraq. Now, two
and a half years later, the ship is headed back to the fight against
the Islamic State terror group.
“That
doesn't mean that three months or six months from now, that will be
the priority for our country. So we have to be ready to execute
anywhere, anytime, any mission,” said Capt. James McCall, commander
of Air Wing 8, in charge of all of the aircraft on board.
No US carrier at sea leaves gap in Middle East
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