Stennis, strike group to leave Saturday

Stennis, strike group to leave Saturday
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 16, 2009 15:42:41 EST

SAN DIEGO — The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis will leave Naval Air Station North Island on Saturday to lead its strike group on a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf regions.

Joining the Bremerton, Wash.-based Stennis will be the destroyers Kidd and Preble and cruiser Antietam. It will be the first operational deployment for Kidd, which was commissioned in 2007. The ships will leave their home berths at the San Diego Naval Base and head to the Western Pacific and participate in joint military exercises.

“Anytime we deploy, our primary mission is to standby and be ready to support the war on terror wherever that may be,” Stennis’ skipper, Capt. Joseph Kuzmick, said in a Navy news story. “We are not going to stick to that if conditions dictate otherwise,” he added.

The strike group includes Destroyer Squadron 21 and Carrier Air Wing 9.

Stennis last year completed a six-month, $240 million overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Station, Wash., that included upgrades to its combat systems, improved arresting gear controls and new systems for the MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, along with renovations to decking, berthing and other spaces. Its departure also marks the first time the modern multi-mission helicopters will deploy aboard the carriers.


Article at: http://navytimes.com/news/2009/01/navy_stennisdeploys_011609w/%2e

"We're going to war. We're going to attack Iran. Bush can't get enought war. It's the end of all things.", yada, yada, yada.