The US Secretary of Defense makes an unannounced visit to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford in defense of Israel
ABOARD THE USS GERALD R. FORD — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin flew to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford on Wednesday to meet with the sailors he has ordered to remain at sea to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from turning into a deadlier regional conflict.
Austin was in the region to pressure Israel to shift the bombardment of Gaza to a more limited campaign and a faster transition to address the serious humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians.
At the same time, the US is concerned that Israel will launch a similar military operation along its northern border with Lebanon to drive out Hezbollah militants there, potentially opening a second front and widening the war.
At a news conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, Austin did not say whether U.S. forces could be further expanded to defend Israel if the campaign expands into Lebanon, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to soften recent rhetoric that a northern front was imminent. , whereby diplomatic efforts must first be postponed.
Still, that leaves incredible uncertainty for the Ford and its crew, which Austin ordered to head to the eastern Mediterranean to be closer to Israel the day after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7. The more than 4,000 sailors of the aircraft carrier and the accompanying warships would be home by early November.
Over the public address system of the Ford, which is sailing a few hundred miles off the coast of Israel, Austin thanked the sailors and their families for not spending the holiday together because of the mission.
“Sometimes our greatest achievements are the bad things we prevent,” Austin told the crew. “At a time of enormous tension in the region, all of you have been pivotal in preventing a broader regional conflict.”
The Defense Secretary met with a group of sailors in the Ford's hangar to discuss the various threats in the region that the aircraft carrier, destroyers and cruisers deployed with the vehicle had been monitoring.
He thanked them for keeping the focus on the cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and later told reporters traveling with him that if Israel were to withdraw from major combat operations in Gaza, it could potentially ease some of the regional tension relieve the grip that has gripped the Ford. place.
The Ford's commander, Navy Capt. Rick Burgess, said one of the Ford's key contributions has been to stay close enough to Israel so that the country can send its aircraft to provide support if needed. While Ford's fighter and surveillance aircraft do not contribute to the surveillance needs of Israeli operations in Gaza, other ships in the strike group do, Burgess said.
The Ford is one of two American strike groups supporting the conflict. The other, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, recently patrolled near the Gulf of Aden, at the mouth of the Red Sea, where so many commercial ships have been attacked in recent weeks.
Iran-backed Houthis in nearby Yemen have vowed to continue attacking commercial ships transiting the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones until Israel stops its devastating bombardment of Gaza, which has now killed more than 19,000 Palestinians.
To counter the ship attacks, Austin announced a new international maritime mission on Tuesday to push countries to send their warships and other assets to the southern Red Sea to protect the roughly 400 commercial ships that transit the waterway every day.
Since leaving Norfolk in the first week of May, Ford's fighters and surveillance aircraft have flown more than 8,000 missions. The crew, Austin noted, has been driving at full speed, consuming more than 100,000 Monster energy drinks and 155,000 Red Bulls along the way.