More than 6,000 Sailors assigned to Carl Vinson Strike Group ships and units departed the U.S. West Coast, Jan. 4-5, for a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific.
The deployment marks the second time the Carl Vinson Strike Group will operate throughout the Indo- Pacific region under U.S. 3rd Fleet’s command and control. The strike group became the first in recent history to demonstrate the command and control construct called Third Fleet Forward when units completed a six-month deployment last year.
The strike group includes aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), and guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) from Destroyer Squadron 1.
Michael Murphy is based in Hawaii and will later join the strike group as it transits toward the Western Pacific.
In November, ships and units completed a three-week sustainment training exercise off the coast of Southern California. The strike group demonstrated readiness for executing missions across all warfare areas after successfully conducting a series of at-sea drills, missile shoots, and strike operations using a variety of naval platforms and weapons.
