The Abraham Lincoln and John C. Stennis carrier strike groups conducted carrier strike force operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (MC3 Jeremiah Bartelt/U.S. Navy)
Matthew Bodner, Defense News: US rolls ‘100K tons of international diplomacy’ into the Med. Will Russia get the message?
ABOARD THE CARRIER ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA — A commercial airline pilot has a lot of leeway on landing. Airport runways are long and wide, and the flight crew has time to get things just right before setting the wheels down gently. On an aircraft carrier, this is not the case. One minute you are flying, and the next moment — before your body can work out what it is enduring — you are not.
Defense News experienced a carrier landing firsthand on April 23, hitting the deck of the Abraham Lincoln aboard a U.S. Navy C-2A Greyhound aircraft with U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman and Adm. James Foggo, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe. The purpose of the visit was twofold — to kick off a dual-carrier exercise with sister ship John C. Stennis on April 24, and to deliver a sternly worded message to Russia: Stand down.
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WNU Editor: Is the U.S. getting the message? That this is no longer a uni-polar world with the U.S. at the head. I think some do. But we are creatures of habit, and we will repeat what we think works. And while it may be impressive to send a carrier strike group into the Mediterranean Sea, the old ways of conducting diplomacy by using the military as your hammer will not have the impact that many in Washington are hoping for.