As tensions continue to build in the Middle East, the United States is making a resolute show of force. Over 17,200 military personnel from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are heading towards or have already arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean in what is widely viewed as a clear message to U.S. adversaries.
Last month, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III outlined a series of measures intended to raise America’s military profile in the Middle East. Included in these measures is the redirection of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the area under Central Command’s jurisdiction. This addition supplements the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, Navy’s largest and most advanced nuclear aircraft carrier, currently stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group will now join the USS Gerald R. Ford group. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder addressed the deployments on October 23, asserting that while no one wishes for the conflict to escalate, the U.S. will not hesitate to protect its forces and interests abroad.
In total, the Biden regime deployed over 17,200 military personnel to the Middle East.
The deployment comprises 6,000 sailors aboard the USS Ford, another 6,000 within the Eisenhower carrier strike groups, 4,000 sailors and marines in the Bataan amphibious ready group, and an extra 1,200 troops sent to the region, according to the CNN.
The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which deployed last September, counts among its ranks 6,000 sailors, along with four Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, one Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, and nine squadrons that make up Carrier Wing 8. In addition, it includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, dubbed by the Navy as the “most adaptable and lethal combat platform in the world.”
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group also incorporates 6,000 sailors, including Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers along with Carrier Air Wing Three. The Eisenhower, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, provides a wide range of capabilities from maritime security operations to counter-terrorism.
In conjunction with the naval strike groups, an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) comprising 4,000 sailors and marines operates aboard the USS Bataan, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship capable of accommodating over 24 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.
The Marines and sailors in the Marine Expeditionary Unit, one of the U.S. military’s primary crisis response forces, are equipped to conduct an assortment of operations, including amphibious and limited contingency operations.
Amid all these military maneuvers, 1,200 U.S. servicemen and women are being deployed to the Middle East, including personnel from THAAD and Patriot batteries. The exact locations of their deployment, however, remain unconfirmed.
These units are based out of Fort Liberty in North Carolina, Fort Sill in Oklahoma, and Fort Bliss in Texas. Alongside the units providing explosive ordnance disposal, communications, and other support capabilities, the Pentagon announced this week an additional deployment of 300 troops to the region.
On Sunday, in a rare announcement, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the arrival of one of its Ohio-class submarines in its area of responsibility (AOR).