US aircraft carrier Ike enters US 6th Fleet after Suez transit

The U.S. Navy’s Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group (Ike CSG) entered the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations on December 4 following a Suez Canal transit.

Aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) was accompanied by guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) and guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56), after five months of providing air support operations in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Gulf.

The carrier’s air wing completed 1,685 combat sorties and expended 1,581 ordnance conducting air strikes in Iraq and Syria from both the Arabian Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The strikes were carried out from June 28 to July 7.

“The presence of the Ike CSG in the Mediterranean demonstrates the capability of the U.S. Navy to conduct precision strikes on ISIL targets in support of Operation Inherent Resolve from multiple theaters,” said Rear Adm. James Malloy, commander, CSG 10.

While in the Arabian Gulf, sailors aboard “the Mighty Ike” partook in three port visits to the partner nations of Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.

During the deployment, the Ike CSG was mae up of Ike, the squadrons of carrier air wing (CVW) 3, cruisers San Jacinto and Monterey and destroyers USS Mason and USS Nitze.