The USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading home after several months deployed overseas. The aircraft carrier and its carrier strike group have been operating in the waters around the Middle East since July, supporting the American efforts to combat Yemen’s Houthis. The decision ends a month of heightened American naval presence in the region following high tensions in the Middle East.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed on Thursday, Sept. 12 that the carrier would head back to its home port California. The journey will take it through the Pacific theater, where it spent several months earlier this year after leaving the United States in January.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt was the third Navy aircraft carrier to travel to the waters around the Middle East since the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in Israel and the resulting war in Gaza. The start of the war, which has spurred attacks on American troops in multiple Middle Eastern countries as well as attempts to shut down navigation through the Red Sea, quickly saw the United States deploy two carrier strike groups to the region. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Gerald R. Ford operated for several months, before the latter left and the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group became the main U.S. Navy presence there. The Eisenhower took part in several intercept missions over the Red Sea and bombing campaigns against Houthi facilities in Yemen.
The Roosevelt and its supporting ships arrived in the Middle East in July, replacing the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. For the last month it operated in tandem with the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group. That group was ordered to “accelerate” to the 5th Fleet area of operations, following several high-profile strikes by Israel into Iran and Lebanon that led to Tehran promising retaliation.
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The USS Abraham Lincoln was originally expected to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt outright when it deployed, but the Roosevelt remained in the 5th Fleet area of operations after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin extended its deployment. That gave the U.S. Navy two carrier strike groups in the region. Similar orders were given to the Eisenhower prior to its departure after eight months in the area. Despite the continued American presence and dozens of intercept missions and strikes into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the militant group continues to launch one-way attack drones and missiles towards commercial ships operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is now the sole American carrier in the Middle East. It carries three Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet squadrons, as well as one Marine Corps F-35C squadron. Additionally, other American assets deployed to the area last month remain, including a contingent of U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets and a Marine Expeditionary Force.
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