Пацифик-то, ясное дело Пацифик :-) Тока далековато он он Персидского залива... Последняя инфа
Agence France Presse
September 16, 2001 Sunday
...The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and accompanying ships were patrolling waters along the West Coast, the official said.
ПВО наземного нету, вот и приходится АУГ прикрывать родную страну. В принципе, правильно.
13:52 19Sep2001 RTRS-US carrier leaves port on mission far from routine
NORFOLK, Va. Sept 19 (Reuters) - The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt led a battle group out of port on Wednesday on a previously scheduled deployment to the Mediterranean that has become far from routine as the United States prepared to respond to last week's attacks in New York and Washington.
The carrier with its 75 warplanes was leading a 14-ship battle group of some 15,000 sailors and Marines, including a three-ship "Amphibious Ready Group."
It began departing from Norfolk, Virginia, early on Wednesday for a six-month tour that had long been scheduled but could now become part of a U.S. military presence in the Middle East region. Currently the United States has an aircraft carrier in the Gulf and another in the Indian Ocean.
It was unclear where the Roosevelt might end up as the United States mulls how to retaliate to the attacks.
Pentagon and military officials have declined to discuss movement of forces in the wake of the Sept. 11 strikes when hijackers slammed planes against New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington. Nearly 6,000 people were dead or missing.
Capt. Richard J. O'Hanlon, commanding officer of the USS Roosevelt, would say only the ship is "scheduled to depart to the Mediterranean" but declined to be more specific.
"You can understand the predicament we are in," said O'Hanlon. "The people we are interested in get their information from the open media so we are reluctant to say where we go in the future."
Washington has been mulling its military options in the wake of the attacks. Most attention has focused on Afghanistan, where President George W. Bush has called on the country's Taliban leaders to hand over their Saudi-born "guest" Osama bin Laden, the prime U.S. suspect as mastermind of the attacks.
"It's a scheduled deployment, but by no means routine," said Rear Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, battle group commander, speaking to reporters on the dock at Norfolk just before the ships began steaming out of port.
Family members gathered at the dock, waving U.S. flags. Always emotional as they say farewell to crews bound on long missions overseas, relatives seemed more somber than usual.
"The events of last week have obviously touched everybody," Fitzgerald said. "We are heading over there and we are waiting for the president's direction."
"READY FOR ANYTHING"
Fitzgerald said the sailors and ships in his battle group were "ready for anything." He added, "We don't know our schedule, but we're ready should we be called upon."
The Pentagon has declined to give updated figures on military deployments. But U.S. forces recently assigned to the Gulf and nearby include the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson with 75 combat aircraft in the Gulf, and the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and its half-dozen escort vessels in the Indian Ocean.
At least six cruisers, destroyers and submarines and an Amphibious Ready Group of some 1,500 Marines aboard the helicopter carrier Kearsarge and two other warships are in the Mediterranean.
The Roosevelt battle group's jobs include patrolling the skies and maintaining open sea lanes of trade and communications, Fitzgerald said. Additionally, the battle group was prepared to respond if called upon, "if certain pinpoint targets need to be hit," he said.
The Roosevelt, which was commissioned in 1986 and has a crew of 5,500, is nicknamed "The Big Stick" after former President Theodore Roosevelt's famous admonition to "Walk softly and carry a big stick."
O'Hanlon called the carrier's massive flight deck "4.5 acres (1.8 hectares) of American diplomacy."
In the past, Navy officials have said the service has undertaken certain security and force protection measures for its crews in the aftermath of the suicide bombing of the warship USS Cole in Yemen in October last year. That attack killed 17 crew members and injured more than 30.
But officials from the battle group would not discuss the measures.
Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, also speaking dockside of the Roosevelt, told reporters, "Liberty and justice and our way of life is not a birthright." He added the military was being called upon to "root out the cancer of terrorism."
"The Naval services are ready, the Theodore Roosevelt is ready," England added. "The Navy will prevail and the American people will prevail," he said.
((Miami newsroom 1 305 374 5013 or email miami.newsroom@reuters.com))
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Wednesday, 19 September 2001 13:52:59
RTRS [nN1995807] {EN}