Drumbeat of War:Truman Carrier Strike Group Braces European Waters

The US Navy's Harry S. Truman Carrier Strke Group (CSG 8) has deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet Area of Responsibility (Europe/Africa).On 1 December 2021,it departed its homeport of Norfolk,Virginia.It was ordered to remain in the Mediterranean by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III to provide assurance to European Allies,considering the escalating threat posed by about 100,000 Russian forces gathered along NATO Partner Ukraine's borders. A series of three diplomatic encounters between the US,NATO,Europe and Russia has failed to resolve the crisis.Russia has cynically demanded what it knows NATO cannot do:exclude Ukraine from NATO membership and withdraw forces from NATO'S Eastern Flank.According to U.S. Ambassador to the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Michael R. Carpenter: We must never stand for the flouting or erosion of our bedrock principles.That means no tolerance for overt or tacit spheres of influence,no restrictions on the sovereign right of nations to choose their own alliances,no privileging one state's security requirements over those of another.* CSG 8,commanded by Rear Admiral Curtis Renshaw,consists of the flagship aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75);Carrier Air Wing 1;the staffs of Carrier Strike Group 8 and the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56).It also includes: the guided missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 28 (DESRON 28) under Captain Todd Zenneri,namely,USS Bainbridge (DDG 96),USS Cole (DDG 67),USS Gravely (DDG 107),and USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109); a special member in NATO Ally Norway's Fridtjof-Nansen class frigate HNoMS Fridtjof-Nansen (F 310) for the duration of the deployment; and likely up to two nuclear-powered attack submarines.* Carrier Strike Groups have the flexibility and sustainability to fight major wars and ensure freedom of the seas,the Navy said.CSG 8 is capable of conducting the full spectrum of combat operations to ensure security in the maritime,noted Rear Admiral Renshaw,adding that: I have no doubt that we are prepared for any challenge while we are deployed.* Painstaking maintenance of the CSG air assets is one of the primary tasks of the Group's Sailors.In January 2022,two of the Truman's F/A-18E Super Hornets drilled with two F-16 Fighting Falcons of the Hellenic Air Force over the Mediterranean Sea.*