US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered another extension of the deployment of the USS Gerard R. Ford, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the "Ford" class, in the Eastern Mediterranean. This is the third extension of the carrier strike group's deployment, following previous extensions on Oct. 17 and Nov. 20.
It was originally planned that the USS Ford would end its deployment by the end of the year and be replaced by the USS DVN-79 USS D. Eisenhower. However, due to the recent large-scale Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iranian activities in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States decided to continue the presence of the USS Ford in the Eastern Mediterranean in response to changes in the regional situation.
The U.S. military revealed that because the war between Israel and Hamas is still ongoing, Lloyd Austin ordered the aircraft carrier "Ford" and the "Ticonderoga"-class missile cruiser CG-60 "Normandy" to stay in the Mediterranean Sea for several weeks to maintain the presence of two aircraft carriers near Israel.
The Pentagon** said the initial goal was to get the carrier group home for vacation, but the decision to extend the deployment again dashed hopes for the crew and their families to return to their home port. This deployment has lasted 227 days, 30 days less than the previous deployment of the USS Bush in the Mediterranean. It was revealed that one of the purposes of the regrouping of the amphibious readiness group was to provide "non-combat evacuation operations" in Lebanon, if necessary.