The San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson will soon arrive in the Persian Gulf to relieve the USS George H.W. Bush, and begin airstrikes against the Islamic State - also known as ISIL.
According to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus:
"It's (the Vinson) almost there...
“That’s what forward presence gives. We don’t take up anybody’s land, we can come from the sea and we can stay for a very, very long time."
F/A-18 jets flying off the Bush carried out the first airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq.
There have been roughly 260 air operations against militants in Iraq and Syria since the campaign began Aug. 8. Mabus told reporters this week that the Navy is prepared for however long the campaign against the Islamic State lasts:
“We can stay for as long as we need to stay based on the normal rotation of our ships. It is sustainable for as long as we need to be there.”
As Home Post previously reported, the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group departed San Diego on Aug. 22 for a nine-month deployment to the the Navy's 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility, which includes the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf.
The strike group consists of aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, along with USS Bunker Hill, USS Gridley, USS Sterett, and USS Dewey.
The nine fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 17 are also part of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group.
