Roosevelt cruises to Gulf of Aden
The Associated Press reports that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is steaming towards the Gulf of Aden to show the flag in response to the Iranian ships headed there in support of Houthi rebels in Yemen;
The deployment comes after a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last week imposed an arms embargo on leaders of the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels. The resolution passed in a 14-0 vote with Russia abstaining.
Navy officials said Monday that the Roosevelt was moving through the Arabian Sea. A massive ship that carries F/A-18 fighter jets, the Roosevelt is seen more of a deterrent and show of force in the region.
The Roosevelt is deployed along with the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60) but don’t get your hopes up for a confrontation with the Iranians;
Officials said it’s too soon to speculate on what the Navy ships may do as the Iranian convoy approaches, including whether Iran would consent to a boarding request, and what actions the Navy would take if its request was refused.
Category: Terror War
“A fast ship going in harm’s way.”
God bless the men and women on those ships. Anyone that can serve in this military with this CinC has got my respect.
I heard on the radio news that if an Iranian ship needs to be boarded, they are going to try to get Saudi or Egyptian Navy to do it. What could go wrong with that?
“God bless the men and women on those ships. Anyone that can serve in this military with this CinC has got my respect.” Amen to that.
Essentially they have no plan, no idea for a plan but decided they had to look good and are making it up as they go.
But, considering how fucking stupid they are, they won’t be able to get that right either.
God help our men and hopefully their commanding officers will be able to thread this fucked up needle.
While it may be “too early to speculate” on what will happen should Iranian ships refuse a boarding request, I certainly hope WE know what we will do in that event. That’s not exactly a good time to try and “make it up as we go”.
Regrettably, given this Administration’s track record I’m not exactly confident that’s been decided yet.
Don’t worry, the staff JAG has written an excellent ROE for all the CO’s to follow. You know, one that allows for mission completion and isn’t unnecessarily restrictive in any way.
Did B. Hussein 0bama even attend the briefing on this before he ran off to his next round of golf? GOD be with those in harm’s way.
4.4 Acres of America showing up to a neighborhood VERY near you.
Note to Iranians, keep your rubber rafts away from the Scoop Injection, the condenser is really hot and smell really, really bad.
Remember when we used to say “3.5 acres of Democracy steamin’ your way?”
.9 acre additional flight deck is a lot!
Not when covered in turning airplanes…it never seemed that big when the Airwing was aboard.
That was when the Good Ole Salty CO would start the day on the 1MC wishes his Saliors a Fine Navy Day and to Kill a Commie for Mommy.
My last ship was the Nimitz. This is important because in 2008 my wife and I moved to Alameda CA and as we drove in I saw a sign that said USS Hornet.
Well, my wife knows me so we detoured the moving van and went to see it. As we walked up she said “Wow, that’s a really big ship!”
Meanwhile I was thinking “Damn that’s a tiny ship!”
90,000 tons of Sovereign U.S. Territory.
Iran knows this is just Dear Leader dick waving and all it shows is that He needs a lot of Viagra.
sj, how can he wave something he doesn’t have?
Maybe he borrows Michelle’s strap-on when she’s not looking?
Obama has a big dick in the form of the US Navy but he’ll tie them up and put them in harms way with dumbass ROE.
So what you’re saying is Obama in now the Condom In Chief? Sounds about right.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/15/1292241/-Chart-of-the-Day-Aircraft-carriers-U-S-has-more-than-everybody-else-combined-and-then-some
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=200&ct=4
Sailors being Sailors I’m sure someone has done this already, but I think a cool nickname for this carrier would be the “Big Stick” as in “speak softly and… ”
Just sayin’.
I believe that is the ship’s motto
I remember dealing with the Iranians back in the 80s. We would have smoked them in a conflict. I don’t think things have changed that much. Their biggest tactical advantage is their Kilo subs. Otherwise, if they’re thinking of engaging, I hope they’ve made their peace with Allah.
Different ROE now than then?
basically, they were advised that if they penetrated our threat circle we would fuck them up. This was when Reagan was CINC so they didn’t take any chances. Let’s say they were VERY respectful.
I worked in NATO HQS in Brussels during parts of Reagan’s terms. Many Euro’s would tell me they did not like Reagan but the one thing they did admire was that he was predictable: when he drew a Red Line, it stayed drawn.
I was a HS Senior when Ronald Reagan ordered the F-111 raid on Libya, it sure made Quadafi shut up in a hurry, and others in the ME suddenly STFU!
Let’s just say the Kilos would no longer be a threat well before they reached the Strait of Hormuz.
I’m not sure if this is what you were talking about, but we did smoke the Iranians in a naval conflict during the 1980s-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis
Since the USS Roosevelt is a nuclear powered ship shouldn’t the more appropriate term “Rading” be used in place of “Steaming” ? Just sayin….. Okay I will shutup and continue to color now.
Ah … Nuke power plants are steam generators and the steam turns main propulsion turbines … Yes you can return to your coloring book!
Master Chief, I thought maybe the newspeople were saying that the Roosevelt is coal-powered, and I wondered where the stacks were and who the shoveleres might be. 😉
Be serious, Ex-PH2. I’m pretty sure the US Navy had quit using coal in our ships before either MCPO or you enlisted the first time. (smile)
With that ‘impressive’ display earlier this year by the Iranian ‘navy’….I just know those men and women aboard T.R. are shaking in their collective boondockers and flight deck boots.
***Yes, I realize since they did away with dungarees, even shoes get to wear boots.
“A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.”
President Theodore Roosevelt, 2 December 1902, second annual message to Congress.
“Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong” – Ronald Reagan
Poor old thing.
I guess it’s better to spend the rest of eternity in Davy Jones’s locker as a home for the reef fish than rusting away in a boneyard.
What worries me most when tensions escalate in the Gulf is all of our Torque and Moose flights that are up there everyday from one length of the Gulf to the other.
my guess is that the ROE will be so restrictive that the best we’ll do is get photos of the stuff as the Iranians off load it.
So, I guess the Iranian navy speed boats will be cruisin’ along, lookin’ to make trouble in the ‘hood, until the po-po show up… or something like that?
Hope our Intel on these ships is good. It would be ugly if we boarded these ships and found only medical supplies and food.
I guess I don’t get this for another off topic reason. I mean I completely understand and agree with the very real need to keep the Gulf of Aden open. Even if it means sending every Iranian gizmo that floats to the “deep six”. But it begs the question to me about a different matter. Why then are we (we as in Obama and his crew) so wrapped around the axle about getting Iran to sign any kind of nuclear deal, even if it brings an end to the Middle East as we know it, that they are sweetening the deal with a $50 Billion “signing bonus, if Iran will just get on board with the Obama program? I’d say “this is the deal guys, according to OUR terms, PERIOD! You can sign it and comply or we AND Israel will make sure you never, ever have even a nuclear power plant program any longer, much less a nuclear weapon”. But, again I am dreaming.
It’s the middle of the night – I hit the wrong button — disregard.
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Sparks, that would require a Commander-in-Chief with balls. They appear to be somewhat lacking in DC at the moment.
Sparks, Bill — that would require a CiC who actually gives a damn.
Not only are this one’s nuts in his wife’s purse, he just doesn’t give a damn, period.
I don’t think the answer is to continue to isolate Iran.
The real answer is to support Israel and be prepared for the consequences if Greece defaults on its debt. Ignoring Israel can/will have real-world consequences for everyone. Likewise, if Greece defaults and leaves the Eurozone/EU, that will have enormous financial consequences for everyone. We are teetering on the razor’s edge her and the people who are paying attention are more interested in golf scores than real things that matter.
But, hey, it snowed in my kingdom last night and I have pictures. (This is one of those real-world things that matter more than golf.)
Crap. Not enough caffeine yet.
That should be “people who are NOT paying attention”.
Sorry. My bad.
Ever heard of the saying “never point a gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot”? Well , the same goes for Carrier Strike Groups. Sending this group in with ridiculous ROE restrictions, that could limit their ability to defend themselves and America’s strategic interests in Yemen, is just another bad idea in the long history of bad ideas from this administration.
And Sailors and Navy Vets world wide now have a chubby….
Here’s a bit of news from Reuters: al-Baghdadi, the self-declared caliph of ISIS, was wounded so badly an airstrike in March that he is being replaced.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/isis-replace-injured-leader-baghdadi-with-former-physics-teacher/ar-AAbvfRY
Hmmm…. a weakening, perhaps? One can only hope. This one wants to cozy up with al Qaeda.