U.S. Will Maintain Ties, Presence in Persian Gulf

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By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2011 – The United States will maintain a forward-deployed presence in the Persian Gulf region, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.

The United States, he said, has had troops in that part of the world since World War II.

“Our goal is to promote stability and we expect to continue to have strong military-to-military relations with countries in the region including Iraq, to include Kuwait, to include others,” Little said.

The number of troops serving in the region and where they will be based remains to be decided, said Navy Capt. John Kirby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations.

“We’re still working through the decision process,” Kirby said. “There’s been no final decision made on any additional force presence anywhere.”

Little stressed that formal plans have not been submitted to President Barack Obama or Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta.

“Whatever decisions are made about force posture moving forward will be based upon our security commitments we have made and will continue to honor in that region,” Kirby said.

The U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf region is “not aimed at any one particular threat,” Kirby added, “but rather aimed towards our very serious commitments to security and stability in that part of the world.”

The United States has a range of interests and partners in the Persian Gulf region, Little said, noting the number of U.S. forces in the region has waxed and waned in response to events since the end of World War II in 1945.

Enterprise Strike Group Transits Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Enters Gulf of Aden

By Enterprise Strike Group Public Affairs

USS ENTERPRISE, Red Sea (NNS) -- Enterprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG) transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and entered the Gulf of Aden, Feb. 18 in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR).

Enterprise, the world's largest aircraft carrier, transited the strait along with guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) and fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8).

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Strait of Bab el-Mandab is a key chokepoint between the horn of Africa and the Middle East, and a strategic link between the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. It is located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, and connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Three to four billion barrels of oil per day are shipped through the Strait, making it a vital waterway for the global economy.

"The Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden are strategically important to the United States as an important sea lane for lawful shipping and transit," said Rear Adm. Terry B. Kraft, Commander of Enterprise CSG. "Our presence in the region helps ensure this freedom of navigation and the defense of these interests."

Enterprise and Carrier Air Wing One are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR to conduct maritime security operations and to provide support to operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.

For news regarding Enterprise Strike Group's deployment, log onto www.navy.mil/local/cvn65 or visit the USS Enterprise Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USS.Enterprise.CVN.65

For more news from USS Enterprise (CVN 65), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn65/.

All Female Catapult Team on Lincoln Launches Success in Support of OEF

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian Morales, Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs

USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, At Sea (NNS) -- Fourteen female Sailors assigned to USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) Air department formed an all-female catapult crew to launch aircraft in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Jan. 23.

Thirteen Aviation Boatswain's Mates (Equipment) (ABE) joined catapult and arresting gear officer, or "shooter", Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Parker, from St. Louis, to form the all-female launch crew manning critical positions such as topside safety petty officer and catapult deck edge operator to launch the missions over the deck.

On and below the flight deck, 167 ABEs maintain and operate the catapults on a daily basis; six percent of which are females.

"The rate for females only opened up not too long ago," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Equipment) Airman Sheila Seripap, from Atlanta, Ga. "Every work center only has a handful of females in it."

Lincoln's ABEs work long days and nights to keep the catapults in a readiness condition, which has led to more than 1,400 sortie missions launched since October 2010 in support of OEF.

"Aviation boatswain's mates are some of the hardest working people on the flight deck of the ship," said Seripap. "It is not that many of us, but we can do it."

Parker, the only female shooter aboard Lincoln, inspected the waist catapults prior to flight operations and signaled the launch of aircraft. She attributed the unique opportunity to field an all-female team to the tenacity of the team members.

"If it weren't for the guys training the women, and the women having the courage to work in the most dangerous four-and-a-half acres of sovereign U.S. territory there is, then we wouldn't have had the opportunity to have an all-female catapult crew," Parker said. "These ladies are awesome, and the guys they work with are awesome too."

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts.

For more news from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn72/.

This article was sponsored by Military Books.

Gates, Rice to Reaffirm U.S. Ties to Gulf Region

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

July 30, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said his rare and possibly unprecedented joint trip here with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sends a message that the United States has no intention of cutting long-term ties in the region. "I think that it is a statement, first of all, of the importance of this region in terms of U.S. vital interests and the importance we attach to reassuring our friends out here of our staying power," Gates told reporters traveling with him.

The two Cabinet members will meet tomorrow in Sharm el-Sheikh with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The council includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and works to strengthen their cooperation in broad areas, including security. Jordan and Egypt will send representatives to the meeting, too.

Gates told reporters he has four goals for the conference. First and foremost, he said, is "to reaffirm that the Persian Gulf and the Middle East are an enduring vital interest to the United States and that we will continue to have a strong presence in the region, as we have for decades," he said.

The secretary said he also seeks "to intensify our dialog with friends on long-term regional political and security issues." Unlike his previous visits to the region, which centered heavily on Iraq, Gates said he expects a much broader dialog this time that will include Iran, al Qaeda, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria, Lebanon, proliferation and other issues.

Gates also said he hopes "to explore new initiatives to strengthen and expand existing security relationships and opportunities for further cooperation among states in the region." He said he intends to see if there's an interest in pursuing dialog on ways to strengthen existing bilateral security relationships.

Finally, he said he wants to reassure regional countries that U.S. policies in Iraq "have had and will continue to have regional stability and security as a very high priority," he said.

A senior defense official speaking on background told reporters the talks are expected to focus heavily on Iraq and encouraging its neighbors to do more to support its new government.

"Instability in Iraq will negatively affect the stability of the region as a whole, and so it is in these countries' own interest to try to bring about stabilization of the political and security situation in Iraq," he said. "And that is a message we will be carrying."

Concerns about Iranian interference in Iraq, its nuclear programs and its ambitions in the region also are expected to weigh heavily in the discussions. There's "broad concern" about Iran, particularly now that two forces that previously countered its ambitions, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, are both gone, the official said.

"So I would be one to argue it is in your interest to strengthen the government in Baghdad and embrace it in the Arab would so that it is an obstacle to Iranian influence and not a bridge," the official said he will tell participants at the conference.

But the visit is not what the official called "a Johnny-one-note trip" that will be limited to Iraq and Iran. "We also are going to be talking quite straightforwardly about how we can enhance cooperation bilaterally and maybe even multilaterally in terms of defense capabilities," the official said.