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The USS Harry S. Truman launched air strikes against Islamic State targets from the Eastern Mediterranean on Friday, a first in the nearly two-year long campaign against the group.
The strikes were launched by Carrier Air Wing Seven in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The last time carrier strikes were launched from the Mediterranean Sea were launched in March 2003 by Carrier Air Wing Eight from the deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt against targets in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Before steaming through the Suez Canal into the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group operated in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations against ISIL and was extended a month as part of an intensified campaign. Truman operated with the French Navy carrier Charles de Gaulle.
“The ability to conduct sustained operations, from one region to the next, is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy’s flexibility and capability,” said Rear Adm. Bret Batchelder, commander, Carrier Strike Group Eight, in a June 3 U.S. European Command release. “We go where our nation most needs us, anywhere on the globe, and we don’t need a permission slip. That’s the value carrier strike groups provide, and we take great pride in that. During our time in Fifth Fleet, we worked together with partner nations to further gains in maritime security and Operation Inherent Resolve; we look forward to continuing to build upon that success in Sixth Fleet.”
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group deployed from Norfolk, Va., on June 1, to replace the Truman Strike Group.
Agencies/Canadajournal
