US send warships to eastern Med

OK, I guess I'm missing something here. Why is this being treated as if it was in any way unusual? The US Sixth fleet spends the vast majority of it's time in the eastern half of the Med. Has for decades. When I did my three Med cruises in the early eighties, we spent so much time there we got to know the dolphins on a first name basis! Of the 18 months i spent deployed there, about 12 were spent east of Malta. The only time I can remember spending more than transit time in the western Med was when Libya was feeling frisky.

And only three ships? Just the fact that there is no CV attached should tell you the purpose is just to fly the flag. (And, no, an LHA is not a replacement for a CV.) Almost no air superiority assets at all. No support ships? No food fuel or ammo reloads? I just can't see it being anything more.

The USN doesn't EVER deploy any kind of carrier asset (CVN, CV, LHA, LHD) without some kind of Aegis support. Especially since most of our destroyers and cruisers now are Aegis ships. The San Jacinto and the Cole are a pretty powerful little taskforce when it comes to defence. As for the IRBM threat, there's not much they can do there right now.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
As for the IRBM threat, there's not much they can do there right now.

Ok, but you avoided my question on Arrow 2's, or anything else Israel might have. I am just seeking proper context of all the comments here, which is why I asked the question.

I agree that the mid east may not be the target. The Balkans are hot right now. Serbia all hot and bothered, blaming America, America backing Kosovo, Russia saying its going to back Serbia. Hey its like 1914 all over again.

Sorry, lots of other things going on as well, and I'm trying to keep up with them all at 3am.

From what I know, the Arrow 2 is a very capable system, and can easily defend Israel from an IRBM attack, as long as it's not in very large numbers. Israel has also been testing the THEL laser system, which is capable of shooting down mortar shells. It's in very small numbers (on the order of one or two) but in tests has been VERY successful.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Ok then, so I am going to take it in my mind that SM-3 capability in this case may not have as much bearing on the situation as one would be made to think.

So I have another question: are the Cole and Nassau both usually part of the Sixth Fleet...I looked, and couldn't find much on that. It appears they likely are, but not sure.

Firstly, its Lake Erie. Secondly some very deep doo doo is about to go down. I feel it in my bones.

It's hard to say what the current ship list is, because they can change pretty quickly or frequently. The USS Nassau is homeported in Norfolk Virginia. But most "carrier" assets are based in the US, and deploy as necessary. The only carrier that's deployed anywhere outside the US that I'm aware of is the Kitty Hawk in Japan. They deploy to various areas of operation as necessary. USUALLY Norfolk deploys as part of 6th fleet from what I remember, but it's been awhile since I was really digging into this kind of thing.

interesting - now the russian CBG has moved out of the med , the US sends its forces in.

en.rian.ru...

The destroyer and two support ships are close to Lebanon but out of visual range of the coast, Pentagon officials said. Another six vessels, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau, are close to Italy and steaming toward the other three, the officials said.
www.cnn.com...

The Nassau is leading six other ships....think maybe some of yas missed that one....
My son's on the Nassau by the way...and well, I knew he was going out soon and all, but wasn't sure if he went out yet, or where they were going untill I read this news...I think they moved at a higher speed than they usually do though.

still think some of yas are making too much out of this.....

Originally posted by johnskyYou don't avoid a bar fight by getting in the face of all the angry drunks you can find.

Excellent analogy!

Originally posted by johnsky
It's quite obvious that the current administration wants a world war, the only question is why? Is the government earnings from another world war really worth all the horror and deaths?

It's not so much government profits - we are trillions in debt - it's profits for the privately held military industrial complex and oil companies or, in other words, Georgie and Dickie's friends and campaign contributors. Not to mention the often floated idea that a more global conflict would supposedly justify extending his stay in office.


[edit on 29/2/08 by kosmicjack]

Originally posted by dawnstar

The destroyer and two support ships are close to Lebanon but out of visual range of the coast, Pentagon officials said. Another six vessels, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau, are close to Italy and steaming toward the other three, the officials said.
www.cnn.com...

The Nassau is leading six other ships....think maybe some of yas missed that one....
My son's on the Nassau by the way...and well, I knew he was going out soon and all, but wasn't sure if he went out yet, or where they were going untill I read this news...I think they moved at a higher speed than they usually do though.

still think some of yas are making too much out of this.....

Great! Is your son in the FMF, or is he a squid? Either way, a good guy...

Seriously, some of my squiddie friends are under way around the area too. The Bainbridge is in the area, and it just had a rehaul before it pulled out of Norfolk...www.bainbridge.navy.mil...
[Read: Arleigh Burke class]

Israel is of utmost importance to us, and thusly will be covered adequetly.

Also, there has been a good bit of training going on at Little Creek, as well as an amphib group pulling out of there last week...
Guess where they're headed on this cruise?

There's ongoing ops to cover our interests worldwide. It's normal. If I get any info otherwise from my sources, I'll be sure to let y'all know.

"Our Sailors and Marines are excited and ready to conduct a full range of maritime operations with our coalition and joint partners," said Capt. Robert G. Lineberry, commander, NAS ESG. "We look forward to supporting Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, enhancing maritime security, and furthering our partnerships in Europe and Africa through participation in exercises such as Phoenix Express 2008."
www.navy.mil...

www.maltamedia.com...

It's just more of the same. The US is positioning at least 9 naval vessels off the coast of Lebanon as a warning to the populace to choose a US friendly government in the upcoming election. Yay American Democracy!

reply to post by cbianchi513


not sure by what you mean by squid or imf or whatever....
he's os, navy. by what he was saying the few weeks before they left, even the commanders didn't know why they were going out and didn't see any reason for it. and well.....up to a few days before hand, my son said no one knew what was going on, or if they were leaving. which is why I made my first statement...they were scheduled for deployment, had to be sent somewhere....

this is my son's last deployment by the way....... then he comes home, goes to college, has his life back.....
that's if the powers that be don't start ww3 while he's out.

[edit on 29-2-2008 by dawnstar]

Very interesting replies, thanks you guys and gals for helping to shed some light on this recent movement. We've got everything from "it's nothing" to "deep doo doo". The point of a post like this was exactly that- to see if the original link story in the OP was really newsworthy. Some say no, some say yeah. But in the end, it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on things, to help with context.

Also, the posts about this being potentially over Kosovo are noted. But there are already like 15,000 to 16,000 NATO troops there (and 1000 of which are supposedly private US military contractors ), so to me it was unlikely, but I am not sure.

As for me, I am going to continue to keep a wary eye on things...

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
Very interesting replies, thanks you guys and gals for helping to shed some light on this recent movement. We've got everything from "it's nothing" to "deep doo doo". The point of a post like this was exactly that- to see if the original link story in the OP was really newsworthy. Some say no, some say yeah. But in the end, it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on things, to help with context.

Also, the posts about this being potentially over Kosovo are noted. But there are already like 15,000 to 16,000 NATO troops there (and 1000 of which are supposedly private US military contractors

), so to me it was unlikely, but I am not sure.

As for me, I am going to continue to keep a wary eye on things...

I'm voting for the "We need Naval Support nearby incase Russian airborne peacekeepers arrive in Pristina" mission.

The Russian elections are this Sunday? The sucessor Medvedev has already warned about Igniting Europe. So we shall see how things go next week.

If we join a world war 3 would they remove bush to put in a fresh resident? or would they keep the current adminstration since they got into it ?

Originally posted by Trance Optic
If we join a world war 3 would they remove bush to put in a fresh resident? or would they keep the current adminstration since they got into it ?

Both Obama and Hillary said the other night they would stand up and confront Russia if Russian troops arrived in Kosovo.

So no we dont need Mr. Bush to start WW3.

I have a feeling two years from now, were going to miss him and Cheney compared to the mess we'll have by then. Saddam and Iraq are one thing, taking on Russia is not just a whole other ball game, its an entirely different sport.

yes i have understood that, i just thought bush would try something to stay in office longer....

I understand that these sad 2 people we have running now will only further the crisi we are in....

Russia has nothing to lose anymore, we enter a conflict with them i dont care what people say about them not having good equipment they are gonna find a way. and this way wont be pretty......

I bet theres a few parties who want nothing more then USA to be a wasteland.