The US Navy is sending another aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, to the Middle East to replace the USS George Washington, which took over from the USS Abraham Lincoln last week.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt and its crew of about 5,000 sailors, along with its escorts, will leave San Diego in the coming weeks for the deployment that will last for more than seven months as the U.S. conflict with Iran continues.
Since the war began on February 28, the US has been maintaining a carrier presence in the Arabian Sea. This also hints that the conflict is unlikely to ease in the coming days. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman told reporters on Wednesday that this commitment shows no signs of stopping and the service is doing what it can to ease the pressure on deployed sailors and their families facing the longest deployments in decades.
“I would prefer, you know, seven-month deployments. I typically am not a big fan of extensions, and I push back hard on that. But the enemy gets a vote,” Caudle said.
The USS George Washington arrived in the Middle East theatre this week to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose lengthy deployment has triggered reports of worsening sailors’ mental health and supply shortages. However, the USS George Washington was based in Japan and its deployment in the Middle East had left a void in the Western Pacific.
Analysts have noted that this absence creates a window that could be used by China to increase coercive patrol activity near Taiwan, the Philippines or the South China Sea. There were fears among allies, including the Philippines, that Beijing and North Korea could read the temporary US absence as evidence of reduced regional commitment.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the US could push allies to take greater responsibility for their own defence while continuing to watch whether their security partnerships align with Washington’s interests, analyst Derek Grossman told Reuters. “The guiding mantra has been less of the US is more, so long as countries who are doing things in the absence of the United States are doing things in line with what the US wants,” Grossman said.
His comments came after the US cancelled joint Marine drills with South Korea scheduled for next month because of military constraints caused by the Iran war.
