NORFOLK, Va. — Two Virginia congressional representatives are sharing their thoughts on the upcoming deployment of the Norfolk-based USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.
While this is a regularly scheduled deployment, it comes as fighting between Israel and Iran continues, and tension in the region remains high.
“It’s very difficult right now," Virginia U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, who represents part of Hampton Roads, said about the conflict in the Middle East.
“Our military is going to do what they’re instructed to do," said Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner.
Watch: USS Gerald R. Ford CSG expected to deploy near Middle East next week amid Israel-Iran conflict
Scott and Warner talked with reporters at an event in Newport News on Friday. The same day, the Navy officially announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group would leave Norfolk on Tuesday, June 24, for the Navy’s European command area of responsibility.
As News 3 has reported, according to CNN, the strike group is likely to go to the Eastern Mediterranean to be close to the fighting between Israel and Iran.
The strike group includes about 4,500 sailors, the flagship carrier, nine squadrons of planes and helicopters, and five destroyers. One of those destroyers, the USS Forest Sherman, left Naval Station Norfolk on May 6 and is already in the region.
Watch: Norfolk-based USS Gerald R. Ford CSG begins big pre-deployment training exercise
The Norfolk-based destroyer USS Truxtun was also in the area as of June 20, along with the West Coast-based USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group.
The Ford’s deployment will be the second for the Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier.
“We had a deal with Iran. They were complying with it, and then Trump came in and tore it up. We need to get back to an agreement with Iran that they will not have nuclear weapons," said Scott.
“What I’m concerned with is, how do we say to those sailors and their families and friends what is the plan B if a single bombing run doesn’t take out the nukes," Warner said.
The strike group’s deployment comes less than a month after the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group returned from an eight-month deployment to the region and less than a year after the Norfolk-based USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group returned from deployment there.
