US Navy Fighters Fly 1st Missions Against ISIS From USS Truman
The aircraft carrier departed for the Persian Gulf in November.
— -- The U.S. Navy released new video today of fighter jets taking off from the USS Harry S. Truman to combat ISIS. The videos from early Tuesday morning show Navy jets flying the first missions against ISIS over Iraq and Syria since the aircraft carrier arrived in the Persian Gulf.
No U.S. aircraft carrier was in the Middle East for several months after the USS Theodore Roosevelt left the region in early October. The USS Truman didn’t depart Norfolk, Virginia, until November.
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle helped fill the gap when it arrived in the Gulf earlier this month.
It has been a busy start for the USS Truman.
As the carrier passed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf Dec. 26, Iranian Navy ships launched rockets “in close proximity to the coalition vessels,” according to U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kyle Raines of U.S. Central Command.
Raines said Iran provided only 23 minutes of advance notice to the United States.
“These actions were highly provocative, unsafe and unprofessional and call into question Iran's commitment to the security of a waterway vital to international commerce,” Raines said in a statement.
“While most interactions between Iranian forces and the U.S. Navy are professional, safe, and routine, this event was not and runs contrary to efforts to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the global commons.”
The USS Truman’s deployment will last seven months.