The 20-story nuclear-powered Truman is the flagship of a strike group, a mobile fighting force of up to 10 destroyers and submarines, eight aircraft squadrons and a missile cruiser that can move anywhere in the world’s seas, launching missile or air strikes or merely providing visible proof of American resolve.Īs a mobile U.S. The so-called Enhanced Air Policing mission is part of NATO’s Assurance Measures introduced in 2014, after Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and is aimed at defending NATO airspace, preventing incursions by Russians. Since the invasion almost a month ago, these jets have flown more than 75 patrol missions across NATO’s eastern flank up to the Ukraine border, from the Truman. While the high tempo was business as usual for the crew of the USS Truman, the backdrop, both geographically and politically, was not: Accustomed to the Pacific Ocean and the seas of the Middle East, the USS Truman’s strike group is now in the northern Ionian Sea, its fighter jets and radar planes patrolling NATO’s eastern borders and looking east, to a Ukraine now under invasion from Russian armed forces. More than once we were yelled at with drill-sergeant intensity to “GET BEHIND THE LINE!” as aircraft constantly taxied, took off and landed around us. Despite ear-defenders, the growl of the throttle from an aircraft that travels at 1.8 times the speed of sound makes your chest cage rattle and your heart race. In the sound and fury of the flight deck, this didn’t feel like hyperbole: The experience was jarring. Truman was covered with jet engine gas vapor as F-18 Super Hornets rocketed into the sky one after the other. Watching takeoffs and landings at close quarters “is one of the most dangerous things you will ever do,” claimed my minder, an officer with 28 years of experience in the Navy. Truman: IONIAN SEA - The flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. A deployment usually lasts six months, meaning the Washington's battle group, which left June 20, would be expected to return around Dec. The Truman is to relieve the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington, whose return date has not been announced. The battle group also includes Air Wing Three, made up of about 80 aircraft from Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Beaufort, S.C. "Whenever you go to the Persian Gulf, you're going to face dangers, but this time it's kind of personal."īesides the Truman, the battle group's ships are the guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto the guided missile destroyers USS Oscar Austin, USS Mitscher and USS Donald Cook the destroyers USS Briscoe and USS Deyo the guided missile frigate USS Hawes the oiler USS Kanawha and the ammunition ship USS Mount Baker, based at Earle.
"It's all because of 9/11," said Anzidei, 21, of Maple Shade, N.J. Petty Officer Third Class Rob Anzidei said the training leading up to departure was more intense than the last time the Truman deployed, about two years ago. "I think where most people are right now is in a comfort zone. Stufflebeem told reporters in the hangar bay aboard the Truman. "There is an air of excitement, and there is an air of anxiety to some degree," Rear Adm. The carrier was one of nine ships to depart from Norfolk, with a 10th ship leaving from Earle Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey. A voice on the loudspeaker said, "Peace on Earth to men of good will. Sailors dressed in pea coats stood on the Truman's deck as it pulled away from Norfolk Naval Station, and about 100 people waved from the pier. The group was making a scheduled move to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf. Truman battle group, its first deployment since last year's terrorist attacks.
More than 8,000 sailors and Marines left the East Coast on Thursday as part of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S.
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