USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) departed on Monday from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., for a deployment to U.S. 6th Fleet.
Truman, Carrier Air Wing 1, guided-missile destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) and USS Stout (DDG-55) and guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64) are set to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean.
“This deployment comes on the heels of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group’s nine-month mission that highlighted the need for continuity in our sustained presence amid escalating international tensions,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said in a statement.
“The operational experience gained through these deployments is invaluable for maintaining a deep bench of skilled warfighters with trust and confidence in their system’s reliability, adaptability and lethality in a rapidly changing security environment.”
Truman’s deployment comes as the Hamas-Israel conflict has gone on for just shy of a year and tensions have persisted in the Red Sea amongst attacks by Houthi forces in Yemen on merchant shipping.
In addition to the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Israel has launched several attacks against Hezbollah, targets in Lebanon. Israeli strikes on Monday have killed 500 people, according to Lebanese health authorities, NPR reported.
While the U.S. Embassy in Beirut requested all Americans leave Lebanon, the Department of Defense has not been asked to do evacuations, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Monday.
USS Wasp (LHD-1), its amphibious ready group and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are also in the Eastern Mediterranean, in case the U.S. has to perform non-combatant evacuation. USS Bulkeley (DDG-84), USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) and USS Cole (DDG-67) are also in the Eastern Med, as of Monday.
Wasp has been in the Eastern Med since the end of June. One of the ship’s capabilities is noncombatant evacuation operations, a potential need in the event of continued escalations between Israel and Hezbollah, which resides in Lebanon.
The Harry S. Truman Strike Group deployment follows the departure of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group from the Middle East. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, another West Coast strike group, is currently in the North Arabian Sea, according to the USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker.
Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln CSGs have been in the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea as part of their time in Central Command.
Currently, USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121) are in the Red Sea.
Truman’s return to the Eastern Med also marks a full circle of the carriers, each that saw at least one extension. Truman set off for the Eastern Med on Dec. 1, 2021 as part of the U.S.’s response to the anticipated Russian invasion of Ukraine that came in February 2022. USNI News visited the ship in March 2022, where it was flying up to 90 sorties a day.
Truman returned home in September 2022 after spending 285 days deployed. It was replaced by the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which began its deployment as part of the ongoing response to the Russo-Ukraine War before moving closer to Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. The aircraft carrier was deployed for 260 days, according to USNI News’ data.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group then joined the Ford CSG, ultimately staying for 275 days, mostly in the Central Command area of response as it became part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, created to combat the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping.
