Manama: The US Navy has launched its first carrier-based strikes since the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group left the Arabian Gulf in October.
“Strike aircraft from nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman flew their first missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) on December 29,” the Navy said in a statement. OIR is the fight to destroy the Daesh terror group.
“Truman and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 join French nuclear powered aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R 91) in conducting combined combat operations in Iraq and Syria from the Arabian Gulf,” the statement said.
Commander Rear Adm. Bret Batchelder said the abilities his forces bring to the fight are a vital part of the DIME (diplomatic, informational, military and economic) equation.
"Warfighting is the priority; that's why we are here," Batchelder said. "We provide the hard power in the collective DIME, and look forward to contributing however we can. Dual carrier operations with the French allow us to maximize our firepower and provide a unique opportunity to further progress against ISIS [Daesh]. It validates our abilities to successfully operate as an international coalition while conducting very dynamic operations."
Capt. Fredrick Luchtman, commander, CVW 7, said that the two carriers worked together.
"We complement each other in that while one carrier is able to fly sorties in country to support OIR, the other carrier can conduct maintenance and prepare for the next day," he said. "The carriers can then swap, which allows us to put more sorties in country while we partner in this operation."
The Charles de Gaulle has been launching fighters in the Arabian Gulf since November 23.
In Bahrain, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French forces on the Charles de Gaulle that the war against Daesh was starting to bear its fruit.
"The war is being played out here, and the strategy is starting to pay off. Everywhere our sensors show that Daesh is going on the defensive ... as shown in the loss of Ramadi,” he reportedly said.
Le Drian who was received by King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa on Thursday afternoon spent the New Year’s Eve on board of the Charles de Gaulle.
“Last year, I was in N’Djamena and the year before I was in Mali,” Le Drian told soldiers in Paris. “I celebrate the New Year with the soldiers because I believe that is where I should be,” he said, quoted by French newspaper Le Figaro.
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is deployed in the US Fifth Fleet area of operations supporting OIR, strike operations in Iraq and Syria, maritime security operations, and theater security cooperation efforts in the region.
Several US admirals had expressed concern about the gaps between carrier deployments in the Arabian Gulf.
Under a plan rolled out by then US Fleet Forces commanding officer Adm. Bill Gortney in January 2014, the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) “promises to protect sailors from the growing length of deployments and to ensure the ships would have enough time for the maintenance they needed.”
