Vigilance:Navy Ships and Marines Placed Under NATO Command for Force Integration

Several US Navy warships have been placed under NATO command (STRIKFORNATO) as part of major warfighting drills in the Baltic,Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas,NATO announced.These include the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG 8) and the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG).It is only the second instance of a transfer of a CSG to NATO since the end of the Cold War,NATO pointed out.This transfer of command is designated Vigilance Activity Neptune Shield 22 (NESH 22).It integrates high-end maritime expeditionary strike capabilities of Air,Sea and Land assets.NESH 22 will occur in the Baltic,Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas from 17-31 May.Participating in the Vigilance Activity are the following NATO Allies:Albania,Bulgaria,Croatia,Denmark,France,Germany,Greece,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,the Netherlands,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Slovenia,Spain,Turkey,the UK and the US.* The purpose of this Vigilance Activity is to overcome the complexities of integrating Command and Control of a Carrier Strike Group;an Amphibious Ready Group;and a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) into NATO.We will thus conduct the handover of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and Combined Task Force 61/2,which consists of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit,from U.S. 6th Fleet to STRIKFORNATO and the wider Alliance.It establishes the unity that NATO strives for throughout the Alliance,according to Supreme Allied Commander Europe US Air Force General Tod D. Wolters,who noted that: Vigilance Activities like NESH 22 strengthen our ability to seamlessly integrate maritime strike capabilities to support deterrence and defence.We continue to do everything necessary to shield the Alliance.* Such Vigilance Activities ensure the appropriate strategic awareness and force readinesss required to sustain peace.Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO),headquartered in Oeiras,Portugal,is SACEUR'S premier,rapidly deployable and flexible maritime power projection HQ.It plans and executes full spectrum joint maritime warfighting activities.*

US Navy Carrier Integrates With NATO Air Policing

In a unique display of Allied integration,the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) has contributed its strike fighter squadrons and electronic attack squadrons to NATO'S enhanced Air Policing (eAP) effort.In a series of patrols,the US Navy aviators provided enhanced vigilance,training and eAP in support of the Alliance's cohesive defence and collective resolve,Allied Air Command said.Thus they strengthened NATO'S interoperability and readiness.* According to Carrier Strike Group 8 commander,Rear Admiral Curt Renshaw: Conducting enhanced Air Policing from North Aegean waters further illustrates NATO'S continued ability to share and pool existing capabilities.We set out to prove that this dynamic employment of an Aircraft Carrier-in pretty restrictive waters-could be done,and in doing so,we have demonstrated the U.S. committment to Allies.* The Truman conducted fixed-wing flight operations in the North Aegean Sea from 4-5 March 2022,and was pivotal in ensuring the integrity of Allied air space,improving the Alliance aerial readiness and responsiveness in the dynamic environment.* There are presently more than 130 NATO aircraft actively defending Alliance airspace by maintaining 24/7 patrols in skies of NATO'S Eastern Flank.* The CSG,which included a US Navy guided-missile cruiser and several USN guided-missile destroyers,likely a US Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine,a Norwegian Royal Navy frigate;and an Italian Navy guided-missile frigate,supported the eAP missions,bolstering the defence of NATO territory.The Truman's embarked aircraft include the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and EA-18 Growler,as well as the E-2C Hawkeye,C-2A Greyhound,MH-60S Seahawk and MH-60R Seahawk.CSG 8 is the first USN CSG to be placed under NATO command since the Cold War era,in light of Russia's belligerence toward Ukraine.* Captain Steven Bellack is CSG 8 Chief of Staff.* Boeing (BA)

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) of the US Navy controls the Mediterranean Sea - 23 January 2022

As Ukraine Crisis Builds,Major Naval Drills Set To Begin in Europe

As Europe totters on the edge of an abyss fabricated by the Kremlin,naval forces of both Russia and NATO will soon begin exercising in the region.Russia is holding massive drills involving more than 140 warships and support vessels,50+ aircraft,1,000 pieces of military equipment,and 10,000 personnel,from January-February;while NATO,for its part,is staging Exercise Neptune Strike 22.The NATO drills were not on the list of official NATO exercises for 2022.So far,details about it are sketchy.All that is definitely known is that it begins on 24 January and concludes on 4 February,and that the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group with its four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers;a guided missile cruiser;typically up to two nuclear-powered attack submarines with Tomahawk cruise missiles for power projection on land; and a Royal Netherlands Navy frigate are taking part.The carrier air wing includes several dozen Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets,which can carry armaments ranging up to the B61-12 tactical nuclear bomb.* Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby,US Navy retired,said the drills will: demonstrate NATO'S ability to integrate the high-end maritime strike capabilities of an aircraft carrier strike group to support the defence and deterrence of the Alliance...NATO Allies will participate in coordinated maritime manoeuvres;anti-submarine warfare training;and long-range strike training.* The Russian exercises will take place both in Russian seas and select World Oceans,including the Mediterranean,the Russian news agency TASS said,where the Truman CSG has been patrolling on orders of the Secretary of Defense,General Lloyd Austin III,US Army retired.* It is also known that NATO Ally Spain has dispatched a minesweeper and a frigate to the Mediterranean and the Black Seas in response to the Ukraine crisis;it may also send fighter aircraft to reinforce NATO Ally Bulgaria.France has offered to send troops to reinforce Romania.* Boeing (BA)

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.*

Aircraft Carrier Rushed to Europe on Snap Deployment - big NATO exercise scenario revealed

The US Navy's aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) and its Carrier Strike Group of a Guided Missile Cruiser,Guided Missile Destroyers and likely an Attack Submarine has been on a breakneck pace as of late.After a summer deployment that was abruptly halted in July after only three months,as opposed to the customary seven months,and a return to its Norfolk,Virginia homeport,the Truman was ordered right back to Europe and arrived in mid-September.The ship and its 6,000 crewmembers are to be a focal point of the massive NATO Exercise Trident Juncture 2018,which runs from 25 October to 7 November.Some 45,000 personnel from 29 NATO Allies,plus partner nations Finland and Sweden,will participate.*
The Truman's demanding schedule is part of the US Navy's new Dynamic Force Employment strategy.It means the warships and their crews must be on a more agile and unpredictable footing for crisis response in an era of renewed great power competition.As ADL Christopher Grady,commander,Fleet Forces Command,put it:
Let me be clear:all returning units are one hundred percent mission-capable and will remain in the sustainment phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan,which means they will sustain warfighting readiness and be ready to surge forward or redeploy when called upon.*
As Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the US House of Representatives:
The way you do this is ensure that preparation for great power competition drives not simply a rotational schedule that allows me to tell you,three years from now,which aircraft carrier will be where in the world.*
According to US Navy ADL James G. Foggo III,commander,US Naval Forces Europe and Africa and all NATO naval forces:
Trident Juncture 18 is going to test our ability to plan and conduct a major collective defence operation .*
The drills will be held in Central and Eastern Norway;the contiguous Baltic Sea and North Atlantic Ocean;Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden.The exercise scenario is that a NATO Ally has requested help under the Alliance's Article V collective defence clause.*
About 2,000 US Marines and Sailors with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the roughly 700 Marines of the 3rd Battalion,8th Marines already on rotation in Norway will also play a major role in the scenario with the new anti-tank version of the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV-AT).These are armed with the TOW anti-tank missile.