Navy Planning for Extended Carrier Deployments as Iran Conflict Continues, CNO, MCPON Say
news.usni.org
... Families of sailors assigned to the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group are already preparing for a deployment that will last more than seven months as the U.S. conflict with Iran continues.
When USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), its escorts and the embarked Carrier Air Wing 11 leave from San Diego in the coming weeks, the strike group is expected to move to U.S. Central Command to relieve the Japan-based USS George Washington (CVN-73), which entered U.S. 5th Fleet last week. Since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, the U.S. has maintained a carrier presence in the Arabian Sea, launching strike missions over Iran and enforcing a subsequent naval blockade of Tehran.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman, each one year into the job, told reporters Wednesday that this commitment shows no signs of stopping and the service is doing what it can to ease the pressure on deployed sailors and their families facing the longest deployments in decades. ...
Perryman said Theodore Roosevelt families are already planning for their loved one to be away from home for more than seven months.
"[Sailors] will go do really hard things for me without really batting an eye because they like that part of it. But we do have to be able, when possible, to stick to schedules and be very honest, like we are with Roosevelt," Perryman said. "They know they're going to be there longer than seven months. Their [commanding officer] is giving them eight months to plan on."
The Navy already recorded the longest deployment since the Cold War when USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) returned from a record-breaking 326-day deployment in May. Meanwhile, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is on track to come in just behind Ford with a more than 300-day deployment. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel and the subsequent threat to commercial shipping from Houthi forces in Yemen, carrier deployments have averaged 8.5 months, according to the USNI News carrier deployment database.
"I would prefer, you know, seven-month deployments. I typically am not a big fan of extensions, and I push back hard on that. But the enemy gets a vote," Caudle said. ...
