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The Pentagon is predicted to maneuver the one plane service at present primarily based within the Asia-Pacific area towards the Center East to assist the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, protection officers mentioned.
The usRonald Reagan, whose dwelling port is in Yokosuka, Japan, will head towards Afghanistan starting this summer season, the officers mentioned, and can function there for as much as 4 months.
Whereas it’s away, the Navy will go with out an plane service presence within the Asia-Pacific area for a minimum of a part of that point, the officers mentioned. The U.S. Seventh Fleet, primarily based in Japan, has dozens of different ships and plane, however the redeployment of its solely accessible plane service represents a big diversion away from Asia, which President Biden has known as a precedence for the navy.
Mr. Biden unveiled plans final month to drag all U.S. and coalition troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11. U.S. officers mentioned then that they might preserve a service and its accompanying ships, generally known as a strike group, within the space to offer safety whereas the forces are shifting out of Afghanistan.
The plane service at present working within the area, the usDwight D. Eisenhower, has to go away by July to return to its dwelling port in Norfolk, Virginia. The Eisenhower has been deployed twice throughout the previous 36 months and may’t safely prolong its deployment past that, protection officers mentioned. The Eisenhower has been working within the north Arabian Sea since April.
The U.S. Navy declined to remark.
Like different U.S. plane carriers, the Reagan supplies the U.S. navy with the equal of a cellular navy base, carrying 1000’s of navy personnel, dozens of fighter jets and fight helicopters and different weaponry. The Reagan and its strike group have operated in regional waters, together with the South China Sea, to make sure free navigation and adherence to the worldwide sea legal guidelines as China has sought to increase its maritime claims.
The U.S. had mentioned it hoped to take away all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by July, however the service deployment would permit for an extension of the withdrawal course of.
Marine
Gen. Frank McKenzie,
commander of U.S. Central Command, which is chargeable for operations within the Center East and Afghanistan, requested a service to exchange the Eisenhower, and Protection Secretary
Lloyd Austin
authorized it, protection officers mentioned. Mr. Austin is predicted to evaluate the matter once more in coming days, officers mentioned.
The service strikes mirror strains on the U.S. Navy because it goals to cowl its missions all over the world with restricted accessible ships.
The Reagan, which got here out of upkeep within the fall, left its port for the primary time final week. The transfer towards the Center East is believed by protection officers to be the primary time the service will depart the Pacific area since 20I5, when Japan turned its dwelling port.
“The explanation we’re on this place is as a result of the Navy has deployed a service to Central Command virtually constantly for the final a number of years, which has put an enormous pressure on the service fleet. The result’s now, there aren’t any carriers aside from the Reagan accessible to assist the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” mentioned Bryan Clark, a senior fellow on the Hudson Institute.
Earlier this month, Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, addressed the strains that sustaining a service presence within the Center East had placed on the Navy, saying he hoped the Biden administration’s push for a renewed nuclear cope with Iran may result in a decreased requirement for a service strike-group presence within the Center East.
Throughout his speech unveiling the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mr. Biden mentioned he made the choice to return to talks over the nuclear settlement, partially, to release sources for Asia.
The U.S. navy is drafting plans for supporting Afghan nationwide safety forces from afar—slightly than with personnel on the bottom—together with holding ships and plane within the Gulf area. The choice to maneuver the Reagan out of the Asia-Pacific area suggests these plans may pressure U.S. commitments elsewhere.
“It’s one other indication to Asian allies that the U.S. may all the time have to maneuver its sources again to the Center East,” Mr. Clark mentioned.
Write to Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef@wsj.com and Gordon Lubold at Gordon.Lubold@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
The usRonald Reagan got here out of upkeep within the fall. An earlier model of this text incorrectly mentioned the Reagan had been in upkeep for a yr. (Corrected on June 2, 2021)
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