[MilCom] USS George Washington to Replace USS Kitty Hawk as U.S. Navy's Forward Deployed Carrier

[Rick Tharrington]

FYI FOR THE GROUP...
Rick

NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 1250-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec 02, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

USS George Washington to Replace USS Kitty Hawk as U.S. Navy's Forward
Deployed Carrier


            The U.S. Navy announced today that the USS George Washington
will
replace the USS Kitty Hawk as the forward deployed aircraft carrier in the
western
Pacific and will arrive in Yokosuka, Japan, in 2008.



            The USS George Washington is currently home ported in Norfolk,
Va., and
is receiving necessary maintenance and upgrades at Northrop Grumman Newport
News
Shipbuilding to facilitate this forward deployment.



            The forward deployment of the USS George Washington will not
necessitate a change in the assigned air wing in Japan, nor in the
composition of
the air wing.  Carrier Air Wing Five will remain the forward-deployed air
wing.



            This rotation is part of the Navy's long-range effort to
routinely
replace older ships assigned to the Navy's forward deployed naval forces
with newer
or more capable platforms.   It is part of an ongoing effort to consider the
nature
of all forward deployed forces when looking at the unpredictable security
environment in the western Pacific.



            The USS George Washington was commissioned July 4, 1992.  The
ship
returned from its sixth deployment in July 2004.  It deployed to the
Mediterranean
Sea and Persian Gulf in support of the Global War on Terror.



[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051202-5177.html]

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