Dreadnought

Stennis sailed from Bremerton this morning found this...........

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group now steaming toward the Middle East is Washington’s way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region, a top U.S. diplomat said here Tuesday.

Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, ruled out direct negotiations with Iran and said a rapprochement between Washington and Tehran was “not possible” until Iran halts uranium enrichment.

“The Middle East isn’t a region to be dominated by Iran. The Gulf isn’t a body of water to be controlled by Iran. That’s why we’ve seen the United States station two carrier battle groups in the region,” Burns said in an address to the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, an influential think-tank.
Iran is going to have to understand that the United States will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us,” Burns continued.

Iran is in a standoff with the West over its defiance of U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is aimed solely at generating energy, but the United States and some of its allies suspect it is geared toward making weapons. The U.N. imposed limited sanctions on Iran last month.

__________________
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

rickusn

Ah yes Galrahn thanks for correcting me.

But I can do the same unfortunately:

The Mahan is not in the MED and the Monterey Ill have to check but I dont believe it is assigned to SNMG 2.

"USS Mahan (shown in a 2005 USN photo at Norfolk) is in Halifax this week to assume duties as flagship of the NATO SNMG1 group from Canada. Mahan will be joined by FGS Sachsen with both scheduled to conduct training with the USS Enterprise Strike Group off the US East Coast. The cash-starved Canadian Navy is unable to afford to send a ship to the force until July. The Royal Navy has permanently withdrawn from the force and the Royal Netherlands Navy may soon follow suit with the near total gutting of their frigate force. Perhaps it is time for NATO to disband this Cold War-era force and concentrate limited resources on Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean."

Im sure youll let us know if I mistaken.

As for the Counter-narcotics deployment. Were they actually designated an SSG?



Thanks Rick.

rickusn

By God it is!! Two firsts!!

"070115-N-0780F-005 Souda Bay, Crete, Greece (Jan. 15, 2007) - A Sailor hoists the national ensign as Sailors aboard guided missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) conduct mooring operations upon their arrival at the Marathi NATO Pier Facility. The Ticonderoga-class cruiser is currently assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG-2). SNMG-2 consists of vessels from various allied nations and is currently being reconstituted while in port Souda Bay. U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Paul Farley "

Thanks much Galrahn for your "Heads Up" and keeping me honest.

LOL

rickusn

Actually this was a two-part FRP deployment of an ESG not an SSG:

"Actually the L-class deployments started in May 2005 with the surge of the USS Saipan (LHA 2), USS Nicholas (FFG 47) and USS Nashville (LPD 13). It was followed in June with the surge of the USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) and USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) on May 25th, 2005."

Notice the three ship ARG represented by an LHA,LPD and LSD.

Actually an ESG mimus considering the lack of a Burke class DD. But Ill bet if I dig far enough I will find that ship also surged .

Any wagers?

rickusn

And it appears I at least(maybe Galrahn too) missed this:

"More than 800 Sailors aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68) and the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67), both homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, and amphibious troop transport USS Tortuga (LSD 46), homeported at Little Creek Amphibious Base, deployed May 20 in support of the 33rd annual maritime exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2005. "

LOL

I must say the USN has experimented alot in the last year or two.

Galrahn

Ha Rick, we keep each other honest.

Well, some of that stuff is specifically for exercises, and those exercises are counted as individual ship certifications, or in the case of larger exercises like Neptune Warrior, certifications for deployment for SSG. Other examples include the May 17th deployments of the USS Bataan (LHD 5), USS Taylor (FFG 50), and USS Fort McHenry to the Dutch-led Joint Caribbean Lion 2006 exercise. The Taylor used that exercise as workups for its current deployment in the Persian Gulf.

As for the Mahan, you are right, I knew it was somewhere in the Atlantic because it deployed with the Monterey, USS Mitscher (DDG 57), USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), USS Halyburton (FFG 40), and USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) on October 6th for Neptune Warrior of late Oct. 06, which served as certifications for all of the ships. The Mahan and Monterey did not return, and were expected to meet up with a LSD for a deployment. It appears the Canadian Navy changed events.

The USS Halyburton was actually already deployed when it made Neptune Warrior, it had deployed on June 30th, 2006 with the USS Carney (DDG 64) for a three-month Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) surge deployment, which included exercise UNITAS 2006, a passing exercise with Ecuador, Silent Forces Exercise (SIFOREX) and exercise PANAMAX (Panama Exercise) 2006.

I don't know if SOUTHCOM calls their deployments SSGs officially or not, they release the least information of any command. They do however deploy their vessels like SSGs more than any other command, deploying groups of 3 for tours and forming them up for exercises, although for the most part they operate alone.