![]() This return to multilateralism after the wilderness years is reflected in the approach taken by U.S. That we are going to be there.” They are showing that NATO “actually exists, that it’s more than just a number of ideas on paper,” he added. ![]() “We are there to show NATO’s resolve, show we are there for them with more than just words, with actions. The mission is about demonstrating not just to Russia but to the U.S.’s NATO allies that, despite the lack of willingness to engage militarily on behalf of Ukraine, it is a different matter when it comes to countries inside NATO. After the Donald Trump years, when NATO faced an existential crisis, Truman’s presence in the Mediterranean, on a NATO mission, is also a physical manifestation of President Joe Biden’s message to NATO allies that America is back.įor Lieutenant Adam Wawro, one of the F-18 pilots, the mission is technically similar to hundreds he has been on during his five years of training. But it has a symbolic value - sending a message to both the Russians and allies that NATO is real. ![]() “There are numerous Russian ships and subs in the Mediterranean today and that’s why it’s important for NATO to have an equal presence, to deter them,” he said, adding: “The only thing Putin understands is strength.” warships in the Mediterranean than ever before, said Del Toro. But with the invasion of Ukraine, the center of gravity has, for now at least, shifted to Eastern Europe, and the strike group is now stationed in the Mediterranean.īecause of Russian pressure, there are more U.S. More recently, as tensions with China have increased, there has been a “pivot” in the U.S.’s focus toward the Pacific, to counter the perceived security threat presented by Chinese ambitions in the region. Navy carriers have spent most of their deployments in the Middle East. Since the war on terror began 20 years ago, U.S. Navy Carlos Del Toro told POLITICO during a visit to the carrier. airbase, the Truman will be on the front line if NATO decides to enforce a no-fly zone, or should the worst happen and NATO forces be drawn into a direct conflict. “The role of Truman, with other allies, is to deter Russians from further aggression and to be on constant standby for orders that might be given from our president or from other leaders around the world for the protection of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine,” Secretary of the U.S. The 20-story nuclear-powered Truman is the flagship of a strike group, a mobile fighting force of up to 10 destroyers and submarines, eight aircraft squadrons and a missile cruiser that can move anywhere in the world’s seas, launching missile or air strikes or merely providing visible proof of American resolve.Īs a mobile U.S. The so-called Enhanced Air Policing mission is part of NATO’s Assurance Measures introduced in 2014, after Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and is aimed at defending NATO airspace, preventing incursions by Russians. Since the invasion almost a month ago, these jets have flown more than 75 patrol missions across NATO’s eastern flank up to the Ukraine border, from the Truman. While the high tempo was business as usual for the crew of the USS Truman, the backdrop, both geographically and politically, was not: Accustomed to the Pacific Ocean and the seas of the Middle East, the USS Truman’s strike group is now in the northern Ionian Sea, its fighter jets and radar planes patrolling NATO’s eastern borders and looking east, to a Ukraine now under invasion from Russian armed forces. More than once we were yelled at with drill-sergeant intensity to “GET BEHIND THE LINE!” as aircraft constantly taxied, took off and landed around us. Despite ear-defenders, the growl of the throttle from an aircraft that travels at 1.8 times the speed of sound makes your chest cage rattle and your heart race. In the sound and fury of the flight deck, this didn’t feel like hyperbole: The experience was jarring. Truman was covered with jet engine gas vapor as F-18 Super Hornets rocketed into the sky one after the other. Watching takeoffs and landings at close quarters “is one of the most dangerous things you will ever do,” claimed my minder, an officer with 28 years of experience in the Navy. NORTHERN IONIAN SEA - The flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S.
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