U.S. winds up biggest war games in Gulf since 2003

Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:52AM EDT

MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy said on Thursday it had ordered an aircraft carrier to the Gulf to replace one of two patrolling the region, as the United States winds down naval war games on Iran's doorstep.

 

The Nimitz carrier strike group will sail from San Diego for the Gulf on Monday, a navy spokesman told Reuters, to replace the Dwight D. Eisenhower, as tensions mount between Iran and the West over captured British troops and Iran's nuclear program.

 

"She (the Nimitz) will deploy to the Gulf region. She is the relief for Eisenhower, who leaves and she replaces her," Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis said by telephone from Naval Headquarters in Washington.

 

Strike groups typically include four or five frigates and destroyers and a submarine.

 

"You are looking at the early part of May that you would have the transition. It would be without any overlap. There is no plan to overlap them at all," he added.

 

The Eisenhower and fellow carrier John C. Stennis took part in this week's U.S. war games, the largest in Gulf waters since 2003, when the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq.

 

The drills, which included anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare drills, end on Thursday. For the first time since the Iraq invasion four years ago, two U.S. aircraft carriers were deployed in the Gulf.

 

Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Charlie Brown said there were currently no plans for more.

 

"We do not expect to have three carriers in the Gulf region ... but we cannot talk about future needs or future operations," he said.

 

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the U.S. not to aggravate tensions with Iran with its naval presence in the Gulf.

 

IRANIAN EXERCISES

 

The Fifth Fleet has said a decision to hold the exercises was taken within the last two weeks, and planning for the drills accelerated as tensions mounted between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear program and its capture of British sailors.

 

Spokesmen for the fleet, based in the Gulf island state of Bahrain, have said the exercises were meant to reassure allies of the U.S. commitment to security and stability in the region. Only U.S. ships took part in the maneuvers.

 

On Wednesday, Iranian state media quoted Ali-Reza Tangsiri, a Revolutionary Guards navy commander, as saying Iran, which last Thursday also started a week of naval exercises in the Gulf, was monitoring foreign warships closely.

 

"Based on our forces' observations (U.S.) claims ... about a big American maneuver in this region are not true," he said.

 

In February Iran said it had tested missiles that could "sink big warships" in the Gulf.

 

Britain, which maintains its 15 sailors were within Iraqi waters when captured by Iranian forces, wants U.N. Security Council members to endorse a statement that would "deplore" their detention.

 

 

Find article here.

From Navy Times

 

Nimitz leaves for Gulf

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer

Posted : Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 8:46:59 EDT

 

SAN DIEGO — More than 6,000 sailors left San Diego for the Persian Gulf on Monday.

 

Nimitz, a nuclear-powered carrier based at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, Calif., will replace the Norfolk, Va.-based Dwight D. Eisenhower and its carrier strike group and join the John C. Stennis carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa regions.

 

The pairing of the carriers is part of a beefed-up presence of U.S. and coalition naval forces “demonstrating the United States’ ability to build regional stability and bring long-term stability to the region,” Naval Air Forces officials said in a statement Friday.

 

The strike group will join the broader force in maritime security operations, including the boarding of suspicious vessels.

 

Navy Rear Adm. Terry Blake, who commands Carrier Strike Group 11, leads the force that includes the Lemoore, Calif.-based Carrier Air Wing 11 and the San Diego-based Destroyer Squadron 23.

 

The guided-missile cruiser Princeton and guided-missile destroyers Higgins, Chafee, John Paul Jones and Pinckney, along with two detachments of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 49 and Detachment 15 of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, also deployed Monday.

 

Nimitz’s air wing includes Strike Fighter Squadrons 14, VFA-41 and VFA-81; Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117; Electronic Warfare Squadron 135; Carrier Logistics Support Squadron 30; and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 6.

 

The deployment is Nimitz’s third to the Persian Gulf in four years.

 

In mid-2005, Nimitz and its strike group operated in the Persian Gulf and U.S. 5th Fleet area to support operations in Iraq and the region. In 2003, the carrier flew combat missions over Iraq that spring and summer and supported combat operations during an eight-month deployment.

...Carrier Strike Group 11, leads the force that includes the Lemoore, Calif.-based Carrier Air Wing 11 and the San Diego-based Destroyer Squadron 23.

 

The guided-missile cruiser Princeton and guided-missile destroyers Higgins, Chafee, John Paul Jones and Pinckney, along with two detachments of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 49 and Detachment 15 of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, also deployed Monday.

 

Nimitz’s air wing includes Strike Fighter Squadrons 14, VFA-41 and VFA-81; Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117; Electronic Warfare Squadron 135; Carrier Logistics Support Squadron 30; and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 6...

 

Thanks Brad, the OOB information will save me quite a bit of time.