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USS Nimitz Carrier Battle Group to Deploy

Story Number: NNS030228-01
2/28/2003

From Commander Third Fleet Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- More than 8,000 Pacific Fleet Sailors assigned to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Battle Group (CVBG), led by Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group 5, Rear Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, will deploy March 3 to the Arabian Gulf in support of the global war on terrorism.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), homeported in San Diego will deploy with the following battle group ships: USS Chosin (CG 65), USS Princeton (CG 59), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) and USS Bridge (AOE 10).

Nimitz and other San Diego-based ships will leave on March 3. Bridge and Rodney M. Davis will depart the Pacific Northwest and join Nimitz off the coast of Southern California for the transit West across the Pacific Ocean. Chosin will depart Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and join the battle group in the Pacific. The crews of USS Benfold (DDG 65) and USS Oldendorf (DD 972) will join the Nimitz Battle Group later in the year as part of the Navy's Sea Swap Program.

The upcoming deployment will be the 10th overseas assignment for the 28-year-old carrier. Her last deployment to the U.S. Central Command region was in 1997. Nimitz, the Navy's second nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, displaces over 95,000 tons and is home to approximately 5,500 Sailors, as well as more than 70 combat and support aircraft. From the 4.5-acre flight deck, Nimitz can quickly launch and recover the world's most modern military aircraft that operate with other elements of the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as those of allied nations.

Following a three-year refueling and complex overhaul at Newport News, Va., Nimitz was homeported in San Diego in November 2001 and began a four-month Post-Shakedown Availability at Naval Air Station, North Island in January 2002. Nimitz ended her pier-side availability in May 2002 and conducted sea trials, the first step in preparation for her overseas deployment.

On January 29, the Nimitz Battle Group successfully completed a Composite Training Unit Exercise and a Joint Task Force Training Exercise and has been certified by Commander Third Fleet as ready for deployment and capable of conducting the full spectrum of naval operations. The battle group is thoroughly trained in conducting undersea warfare, maritime interdiction operations, leadership interdiction operations, non-combatant evacuation operations, various air strike and support missions, theater ballistic missile defense, logistics support, search and rescue, and command and control.

As the lead ship of the world's most powerful and capable class of warships, Nimitz serves as our nation's finest instrument of peace, power projection and platform for diplomacy.