U.S. Navy To Cut In Half Its Aircraft Carrier Presence In The Middle East

USS Harry S. Truman in the Atlantic Ocean, December 12, 2018. US Navy/Mass Comm. Specialist 2nd Class Scott Swofford

Politico: 2nd aircraft carrier set to leave the Middle East

The U.S. military began surging forces to the Middle East last summer after Iranian proxies attacked ships in the Persian Gulf.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is planning to leave the Middle East, marking the end of the first extended use of two carriers in the region in years amid heightened tension with Iran, two defense officials tell POLITICO.

After a rocket attack by Iran-backed Shia militia groups on a base in Iraq killed two U.S. troops in early March, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Frank McKenzie took the unusual step of keeping two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region: the Truman, which had been scheduled to depart, and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

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WNU Editor: There is more than enough U.S. firepower in the Middle East to handle any crisis. But it looks like there has been a decision in the Pentagon to bring back home U.S. forces, a decision that I am sure many families are happy to hear.

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