11/20/2015: The guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage left Naval Station Norfolk on Monday November 16, 2014 for an eight-month, independent Ballistic Missile Defense deployment in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
Credit: Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic:11/16/15
More than 5,000 Sailors attached to Carrier Strike Group 8 left Naval Station Norfolk on Monday morning for a seven-month deployment.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, commanded by Capt. Ryan B. Scholl, is joined by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio and guided-missile destroyers USS Bulkeley, USS Gravely and USS Gonzalez.
Commanded by Rear Adm. Bret Batchelder, the Harry S. Truman CSG is comprised of the Truman with the embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7, Anzio and staff from Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28, whose ships include the Bulkeley, Gravely and Gonzalez.
The previously planned deployment comes just days after the deadly terror attacks in France.
When a strike force like the Truman goes to sea, it is a commitment of the military and their families to defeating the kind of evil represented by ISIS,
On November 16, 2015, the USS Truman, with surface combatants set out into Harm’s Way with families, loved ones and supporters of the United States Navy waving good-by as the Strike Group left Norfolk Naval Base, through Hampton Roads and then cleared Willoughby Spit and was visible from Little Creek Amphibious Base and many historic Civil War fortifications.
Much like the fanatical Nazis celebrated their sense of ethnic purity against the “weaker” Anglo-Saxon races, ISIS believes its ideological purity will prevail over the “weakness” of the West.
The fleet represents what America has become — a powerful multi-ethnic society, that in spite of its differences, finds ways to work together, notably against those who seem dedicated to the extermination of civilized society.