Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group WESTPAC 24 Deployment
TRBATGRU
CVN-71 Theodore Roosevelt
"Rough Rider"
The USS Theodore Roosevelt departed San Diego for an Indo-Pacific deployment on January 17, 2024. Roosevelt steamed out of San Diego with little fanfare and headed toward the Western Pacific, according to a media report. Local ship spotters witnessed the carrier depart its berth at Naval Air Station North Island on Thursday and leave San Diego Bay, according to a USNI News report Friday citing an unnamed defense official. The deployment was not initially publicized by the Navy. A spokesman for the U.S. 3rd Fleet, Lt. Mohammad Issa, told Stars and Stripes by email Tuesday that Carrier Strike Group 9, led by the Theodore Roosevelt, “is currently underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations.” No other details about the patrol were provided.
USS Theodore Roosevelt departed Bremerton, Washington on March 20, 2023, after completing an 18-month docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility. The ship is shifting its homeport back to San Diego, California, and will return to Naval Air Station North Island. The DPIA achieved significant modernization to the ship’s combat efficiency while also ensuring sustained operational readiness throughout its 50-year lifespan. Upgrades included a flight deck systems retrofit, expanding the ship’s air dominance capabilities to support the F-35C Lightning II, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, and CMV-22B Osprey, as well as future platforms such as the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aircraft system. Other combat systems modernization efforts included installation of the Mark 38 Mod III Machine Gun System and upgrades to the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare suite; Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES); ship self-defense system (SSDS); surface search radar; and AN/SPQ-9 Fire Control System.
The US decision to pull the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt out of the Middle East, amid Israel’s escalating wars in Gaza and Lebanon, is seen by analysts as a reflection of America’s competing security interests there and in Asia. The Pentagon confirmed on 12 September 2024 that one of the two aircraft carriers deployed by the United States in the Middle East had left the region. Washington deployed two aircraft carriers for purposes including deterring Iran from carrying out a threatened attack on Israel. The decision to move the carrier came nearly three weeks after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt to remain in the Middle East until the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln arrived to replace it.
Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said in a press briefing that the Roosevelt has left the Middle East and was heading to the Asia-Pacific region. Austin had ordered Roosevelt to remain in the region on Aug. 25, when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel. The Israeli military said it had launched about 100 fighter jets into Lebanon to thwart a Hezbollah attack, in one of the largest confrontations in more than 10 months of cross-border clashes.
Officials also feared that Iran would carry out its threats to attack Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Ryder downplayed the idea that the United States was no longer concerned about potential Iranian action, saying the basis of the decision was fleet management. "Iran has indicated that it wants to respond to Israel. And that's why we will continue to treat this threat with great care," he told reporters at the Pentagon.
Iran vowed a strong response to Haniyeh's killing in July during a visit to Tehran and blamed Israel for his death. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. The administration of US President Joe Biden was seeking to limit the repercussions of the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, which is now approaching its second year. The conflict had devastated swathes of Gaza, sparked border clashes between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, and drawn in the Houthis in Yemen. “We remain very focused on working with regional partners to de-escalate tensions and prevent a wider regional conflict,” Ryder said.
The dual coverage was widely seen, at least in part, as a response to the threat of a massive Iranian aerial assault on Israel in response to the July assassination of Hamas’ political leader in Tehran. The fear had receded as Iran has failed to respond, saying it does not want to upset the prospects for a cease-fire in Gaza. But Yasmin Omar, director of the Democracy Matters Initiative at the Middle East Democracy Center in Washington, noted that the United States also has pressing security concerns elsewhere. “The deployment of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was initially a show of force aimed at deterring U.S. adversaries in the region. Its withdrawal signals a noteworthy shift in U.S. military posture,” she told VOA.
Omar said the move suggests a reallocation of priorities, particularly as Washington addresses security threats in the Indo-Pacific, where China and Russia have been expanding their influence through major naval exercises. “It is important to interpret this as part of a broader recalibration of military resources, rather than a reduction in U.S. engagement,” Omar said.
An Iran specialist based in Washington, Sina Toossi, agreed that Tehran and Washington are signaling a desire to avoid war. But, he said, some U.S. allies in the region may interpret the U.S. restraint as indicating a lack of resolve. He noted that the United States chose not to go to war with Iran over provocations such as its September 2019 drone and missile attacks on Saudi Aramco or the January 2020 missile strike on a U.S. base in Iraq. “This restraint is likely a key reason why countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia have pivoted away from supporting the U.S.'s 'maximum pressure' campaign and instead have normalized relations with Tehran in recent years,” he said. “They fear a costly conflict with Iran in which they would be left to face the consequences alone.”
Omar, similarly, cited recent military collaboration between Egypt and Turkey as an example of how Middle Eastern nations are adjusting their defense strategies in response to shifting geopolitical dynamics and uncertainties surrounding U.S. commitments.
However, Brian Katulis, senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told VOA that it is important not to overinterpret every movement of U.S. military assets in and out of the Middle East. “The United States remains the strongest and most capable military actor from outside the region, and this movement is just part of the normal rotations of personnel and hardware that occur regularly,” Katulis said.
While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are close security partners, Katulis cautioned against calling them “allies” in the same sense as NATO partners in Europe. “America does not have formal treaty allies in the Middle East. This move signals that the United States remains committed to maintaining its overall military readiness globally while continuing to work in close partnership with key countries in the region,” Katulis said.
When asked whether the departure of the Roosevelt might embolden adversaries such as Iran, Katulis responded, “No, because the United States still maintains significant military firepower in the region, and more importantly, it is working closely with partners to help them defend themselves against threats.” Katulis said, “Iran remains significantly weaker in conventional military power than the United States and its regional security partners. Iran will likely continue to use asymmetric attacks, terrorist strikes and cyberattacks as key parts of its tools to undermine regional security.”
Nancy Okail, president and CEO of the Washington-based Center for International Policy, told VOA that the departure of the Roosevelt from the Middle East had already been scheduled with the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln three weeks ago to replace it. “The Roosevelt's presence was only briefly extended after Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel. The decision to end the dual-carrier presence is more of a Navy fleet management issue than an indication of diminished concern over strikes from the Houthis or Iran,” Okail said.
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