Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2006
Source: Daily Press (Newport News,VA)
Copyright: 2006 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585
Author: Stephanie Heinatz

CARRIER FORCE TO DEPLOY TO CARIBBEAN

The USS George Washington Will Focus On Human And Drug Trafficking,
As Well As Diplomacy

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK -- The USS George Washington aircraft carrier
strike group - which includes roughly 6,500 sailors, an air wing and
three smaller warships, two of which are from Norfolk - will deploy
to the Caribbean in coming days, Navy officials announced Monday.

U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military activities in Latin
America, requested the ships to participate in Operation Partnership
of the Americas, an exercise that will focus on diplomacy and
fighting drug and human trafficking.

Navy officials said the cruise, which is expected to last through
late May, is unusual in that it brings an aircraft carrier to a
region not typically visited by a strike group. Most deployed
carriers head to the Middle East.

"There are a fair amount of drugs coming out of the South American
area," said command spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon. "Those
are occurrences that are happening worldwide, and just happen to be
things .. we are focusing on. The Department of Defense is not the
lead agency in the fight, but we support those efforts."

"An aircraft carrier is not only a ship, but it has sensors and
radar, which are assets that can detect those types of activities in
the waters," Loundermon said.

Earlier this month, Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who heads up
Southern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that
stability in the region is facing several threats.

"Across the region, poverty, corruption and inequality contribute to
an increasing dissatisfaction with democracy and free-market
reforms," Craddock said. "This has been accompanied by the growing
popularity of leaders who profess to offer an alternative through
anti-U.S. and anti-free market rhetoric."

Craddock further said that merely bringing troops to the region
wouldn't solve the problem. A military presence must be coupled with
an effort to foster good will.

During the two-month-long Operation Partnership of the Americas,
service members will make numerous port calls, conduct community
relations projects, and work to improve foreign military relationships.

"It's important for the Americas to build relationships while in
peace," Loundermon said.

For security reasons, Loundermon couldn't say Monday where the port
calls would be.

But there are 11 countries in Latin America that fall under the
American Service Members' Protection Act. The act stipulates that
countries that haven't agreed not to extradite Americans to the
International Criminal Court will not be allowed to, among other
things, participate in military exchange programs.

At the Senate hearing, Craddock said, "this loss of engagement
prevents the development of long-term relationships with future
military and civilian leaders."

Loundermon said the timing of the George Washington's deployment was
not directly related to those issues, and that "we have brought our
concerns about these unintended consequences to the attention of our
elected leaders to raise awareness regarding the issue and afford
them an opportunity to evaluate it."

This Caribbean deployment will also serve as part of the aircraft
carrier's work-ups for its next standard six-month cruise.

The smaller warships in the strike group include the Monterey, a
guided-missile cruiser; the Stout, a guided-missile destroyer; and
the Underwood, a guided-missile frigate based in Florida.

The George Washington last deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2004. It
then spent most of last year at the Northrop Grumman Newport News
shipyard. It is scheduled to replace the aging USS Kitty Hawk in Japan
in 2008.