No need to hurry the decision-making process, Congress. Bush is just playing with his boats again.

LEMOORE — Among the first service members to feel the effects of President Bush's much-debated plan for a troop surge in Iraq are hundreds of sailors from Lemoore Naval Air Station.
Some 360 of them flew out of the base late Thursday to rendezvous with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which will return to sea earlier than scheduled as part of a worldwide redeployment of forces resulting from the president's decision.

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Usually, sailors have months to prepare for a deployment and spend more than a year at home before being asked to go to sea again, Gibbs said.
An estimated 600 sailors are scheduled to fly to San Diego today.
The Reagan will set sail to the western Pacific Ocean today, U.S. Navy spokesman Dennis McGrath said. About 40 F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet fighter jets from four squadrons are scheduled to leave Lemoore on Sunday and fly onto the Reagan, McGrath said.

This deployment comes shortly after 800 sailors from Lemoore left to join the USS John C. Stennis. The Stennis sailed out of San Diego on Saturday headed for the Persian Gulf on a planned deployment.
The Reagan's rapid deployment is part of the Fleet Response Plan, which the Navy says will provide the military with the ability to respond to any global commitment on short notice.

"We just found out about two weeks ago," David Pepper said about his deployment. "It was kind of a shock."

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SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will leave its home port in a few weeks for a mission related to President George W. Bush's plan to send a surge of new troops to Iraq, sources told NBC..

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The wire service quoted an unnamed Navy official, who said the Navy had considered sending the Stennis to the Asian region to fill in for the Japan-based USS Kitty Hawk, which is due to undergo maintenance, but officials decided to deploy the Stennis to the Gulf area instead.
U.S. officers believe that having an aircraft carrier in the Pacific is an important part of the U.S. deterrent against North Korea and overall U.S. military presence in the region.
The San Diego-based Reagan will leave its home port in a few weeks for the mission, said the official who asked not to be named because the deployment hasn't officially been announced.
NBC 7/39, quoting different Navy sources in the San Diego area, reported that the Navy was expected to announce the deployment of the Reagan and its San Diego-based support ships on Friday.

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The Stennis's arrival in the Middle East will mark the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq invasion in 2003 that the United States has had two carrier battle groups in the region.
The ship, which is based in Bremerton, Wash., is expected to arrive in the Middle East in about one month.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated in Brussels Monday that Iran's perception of U.S. vulnerability in the region was part of the reason the Pentagon decided last week to send a second aircraft carrier battle group and a Patriot anti-missile battalion to the Gulf area.
Patriots defend against shorter-range missiles of the type that Iran could use to hit U.S. bases in the area.

The Stennis will stop off in San Diego on its way to the Gulf to pick up an air wing of more than 80 planes, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is already in the Gulf region.