Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Has Entered The Mediterranean

STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR (Oct. 28, 2023) The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group transits the Strait of Gibraltar, Oct. 28, 2023. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment to provide the national command authority flexible, tailorable, warfighting capability to maintain maritime stability and to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied and partner interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Merissa Daley)  

Naval News: IKE Carrier Strike Group Enters the Mediterranean Sea 

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) transited the Strait of Gibraltar on October 28.  

US Navy press release 

As a part of the U.S. Navy’s globally-deployed forces, IKECSG will join the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in support of the defense of Israel and to deter aggression throughout the region. 

By direction of the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, IKECSG will transit to U.S. Central Command to demonstrate its readiness to flex to any contingency. IKECSG remains committed to ensuring the security of allies and partners.  

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Update: Eisenhower carrier strike group enters the Mediterranean (Navy Times).  

WNU Editor: This is where the US Navy's big ships are currently located (see image below). For a complete breakdown of US Navy deployments .... USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Oct. 30, 2023.

U.S. Navy Destroyer Operating Near the Black Sea for First Time Since Russia Invaded Ukraine

USS Nitze (DDG-94) at anchor near the entrance to the Bosporus Strait on Feb. 3, 2023. Photo by Yörük Işık‏ used with permission

USNI News: U.S. Destroyer Operating Near the Black Sea for First Time Since Russia Invaded Ukraine 

USS Nitze (DDG-94) stopped on the edge of the Bosphorus Strait, on its way to make a port call in Turkey, USNI News understands. It’s the closest a U.S. warship has been to the Ukraine-Russia war since it started nearly a year ago. 

Nitze was seen by ship spotters at the lower edge of the strait on Friday. Turkey closed the Bosphorus Strait to warships on Feb. 28, 2022, four days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Since the closure, only warships with ports on the Black Sea, which includes Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and Turkish ships, can enter. 

The last American warship to transit the strait was USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), which left the Black Sea on Dec. 15, 2021. The ship entered the Black Sea in November 2021 following a port visit in Bulgaria, USNI News previously reported.  

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WNU Editor: The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group is also near the region .... George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group arrives in Piraeus, Greece (Navy.mil).

US Navy Pilots Now Flying Dozens of Daily Russian Deterrence Missions From The USS Harry S. Truman In The Eastern Mediterranean

 

USNI News: VIDEO: Navy Pilots Flying Dozens of Daily Russian Deterrence Missions from USS Harry S. Truman 

ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS HARRY S. TRUMAN IN THE IONIAN SEA – For the longest stretch in decades, the Mediterranean Sea has played host to the deafening roar of U.S. carrier aircraft launching into Europe. 

Since December, the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, Carrier Air Wing 1 and its escorts have been operating in the Adriatic and Ionian seas launching 80 to 90 sorties a day as far north as Lithuania for a variety of missions with NATO-allied aircraft from Romania, France and Italy. 

Some fighters launched from Truman are training, while some are set to police NATO’s airspace and prevent Russian aircraft from violating those borders.  

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WNU Editor: NATO has nearly doubled the number of military combat aircraft on alert across Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine .... USS Harry Truman Remains On Station in Eastern Mediterranean (National Interst).

With The Fall Of Afghanistan, China Is Exploiting The American Defeat

Chinese President Xi Jinping's Communist propaganda has been hammering Joe Biden for his disastrous retreat from Afghanistan 

Gordon G. Chang, The Hill: After Kabul, China exploits perceptions of American weakness 

“If the U.S. cannot even secure a victory in a rivalry with small countries, how much better could it do in a major power game with China?” asked the Communist Party’s Global Times on Monday, hours after the Taliban captured Kabul. The semi-official tabloid also stated this, referring to America: “It cannot win a war anymore.” 

China’s regime this year has highlighted themes intended to intimidate others into submission, and Beijing doubled down on this approach in the wake of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. The risk is that Beijing will now press the advantage, taking on what it says is a weak America.  

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WNU Editor: China has definitely escalated its threats lately .... China vows to 'crush' any US troops on Taiwan 'by force' and conducts live fire naval exercises in South China Sea after Biden abandoned Afghanistan (Daily Mail). And for Taiwan, they do need to be concerned .... If You Live In Taiwan, It's Time To Worry (Zero Hedge/Epoch Times). 

So what is next? 

China (like everyone else) was caught by surprised on how quick the US decided to fold in Afghanistan, and even more so on how quick the Taliban were able to conquer the country. 

The fact that the Taliban did this under the watchful eyes of the U.S. and its allies who were frozen on what to do next has not been ignored by Chinese President Xi. 

Because of this quick defeat, China is now re-evaluating U.S. military capability, U.S. red lines in Asia, U.S. political will, U.S. economic strength, and U.S. relations with its allies in the region. 

In the past few days I have noticed in Chinese media that some conclusions are already being drawn by Beijing. 

Here is the list.

(1) The U.S. military is not as formidable as advertised. 

(2) The U.S. intelligence community completely dropped the ball on picking up Taliban planning and preparedness to launch an offensive when President Biden made it official that U.S. forces will leave Afghanistan on September 11, 2021. 

(3) The U.S. did not consult its allies in Afghanistan when President Biden's final decision was made to withdraw. From Beijing's perspective this means that U.S. - NATO ties are not as deep and committed when it comes to coordinating military operations. 

4) The U.S. is led by a President who appears to not have the capacity to handle a major crisis. I know my Chinese friends and contacts were shocked that even with tens of thousands of Americans trapped in Afghanistan, President Biden made the decision to go back on his vacation after he had made his Afghanistan statement on Monday. Those optics may not mean much to many in the U.S., but overseas this signals to everyone that if the U.S. does not care about its own citizens, they will certainly not care about a country like Taiwan. 

So what is my prediction. 

The Winter Olympics in Beijing are 6 months away. China will increase its hostile rhetoric and military exercises against Taiwan, but not to the point that it will cause a crisis. The Games are important for Chinese internal propaganda. 

After the Olympics, I expect China will start to put a real squeeze on Taiwan, and they will see how the U.S. is going to respond.

Bottom line. It is going to be a very tense 2022 in Asia.

President Biden Says The Russian Economy Has 'Nuclear Weapons and Oil Wells And Nothing Else'

'He knows he’s in trouble,' President Joe Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin  

Daily Mail: Biden says Putin is in 'real trouble' because he is sitting on 'an economy that has nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else' 

* The president made his first address to the intelligence community as president 

 * Visited the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Virginia outside DC 

* He warned Putin is in 'real trouble' which makes him 'more dangerous' 

* Mentioned the nuclear power's oil-dependent economy 

* He said the next 'shooting war' with a major power could get triggered by cyber President Joe Biden said in a speech to U.S. intelligence community Tuesday cast Russian President Vladimir Putin as a cornered adversary – which makes him potentially 'more dangerous.' 

Speaking at the office of the Director of National Intelligence for his first time as president, Biden remarked on the state of Russia's oil-dependent economy – and issued a grave warning about the risks of cyber adventurism. 

'He knows he’s in trouble and that makes him more dangerous,' Biden said, speaking a few weeks after meeting with Putin in Geneva for a summit. 

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WNU Editor: If this is President Biden's  assessment of Russia , President Biden is getting very bad advice and information from his intelligence community. The Russia I know is industrially self sufficient, a booming real estate market, a modern infrastructure, holding massive gold and foreign reserves, massive trade surpluses, no federal budget deficits, and is a world leader in the production of forestry, minerals, oil/gas, and grain products.

New Report Says US Navy Is In Disarray And Focusing More On Diversity Training Than Warfighting (Update)

The report found that a staggering 94 percent of the subjects believed the recent Naval disasters were 'part of a broader problem in Navy culture or leadership'

A majority of the officers interviewed believed there was a 'direct connection' between the recent disasters in the Navy's surface warfare units  

Daily Mail: 'Every officer is up to speed on diversity training. Not so much ship handling': Scathing official report finds woke US Navy is not fit for war because of risk averse, politically correct, control-freak top brass 

* Members of Congress commissioned the report on issues in the surface Navy 

* Came in response to fire on ship in San Diego and two ship collisions in Pacific 

* Retired Marine general and Navy admiral spoke with current and former officers 

* They identified a number of disturbing trends in Navy leadership and training 

* Many officers said that diversity training took precedence over warfighting 

* They claimed combat readiness had become a 'box-checking' exercise 

A scathing new report commissioned by members of Congress has claimed that the Navy's surface warfare forces have systemic training and leadership issues, including a focus on diversity that overshadows basic readiness skills. 

The report prepared by Marine Lt. Gen. Robert Schmidle and Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, both retired, came in response to recent Naval disasters, including the burning of the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego, two collisions involving Navy ships in the Pacific and the surrender of two small craft to Iran. 

The authors conducted hour-long interviews with 77 current and retired Navy officers, offering them anonymity to identify issues they wouldn't feel comfortable raising in the chain of command.  

Read more .... 

More News On A New Report That Says The US Navy Is In Disarray And Is Focusing More On Diversity Training Than War-fighting 

Navy more focused on diversity training than potential China threat: report -- NYPost 

'They think my only value is as a black woman': Sailors say Navy leaders failing to prepare for war -- Washington Examiner  

Lawmakers Survey: 94% of Sailors Say ‘Damaging Operational Failures’ Related to Navy Culture, Leadership Problems -- US News and World Report 

Featuring Catchy Quotes and Contentious Politics, a New Report Reveals Age-Old Navy Problems -- Military.com 

Sen. Cotton has 'real doubts' about US Navy's ability to defeat China in battle -- FOX News

Is The Marine Corps’s New Battlewagon A Better Tank-Killer Than The Service’s Tanks

A U.S. Marine drives a Joint Light Tactical Vehicles at White Beach as part of the I Marine Expeditionary Force JLTV Operator New Equipment Training course on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Oct. 24, 2019. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Drake Nickels) 

Task & Purpose: The Marine Corps’s new battlewagon is a better tank-killer than the service’s tanks, general says 

Here comes the JLTV. 

The Marine Corps may be in the process of ditching its tanks as it retools towards dealing with near-peer threats in the Pacific, but that doesn’t mean the service’s anti-armor capabilities are falling by the wayside. 

According to Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, the service’s brand new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle outfitted with “lightweight mounted fires” is capable of killing armor at between 15 and 20 times the range of an M1 Abrams main battle tank. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: These vehicles must pack a lot of firepower.