The September 11th attack | America strikes back
Drama begins for Hawai'i-based Navy ship
Associated Press
An aircraft carrier normally under the Hawaii-based Pacific Command is among the U.S. military assets sent to the Persian Gulf region following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Associated Press
The USS Carl Vinson battle group has 75 warplanes and about a dozen ships, including destroyers, cruisers and attack submarines capable of launching long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, shown operating in the North Arabian Sea before attacks began, launched strikes against military targets and Osama bin Laden's training camps inside Afghanistan yesterday. Mission approval arrived only a few hours before the strikes began.
The Carl Vinson is homeported in Bremerton, Wash., and is normally overseen by the Pacific Command headquartered at Oahu's Camp H.M. Smith.
However, a Pacific Command spokesman said yesterday that the Carl Vinson is under the U.S. Central Command at this time.
The spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Stephen Barger, would not say whether any Hawaii-based forces or personnel overseen by the Pacific Command are involved in the U.S. military strikes in Afghanistan.
The Tampa, Fla.-based Central Command's area of responsibility is a region composed of 25 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa, through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia.
