Fiction and Fact

What's wrong with with this picture? The picture is of the five first line US nuclear carriers docked together in one place. Just like Battleship Row, Pearl Harbor , December 7, 1941. This picture was taken the February 2014 in Norfolk , Virginia … Obama ordered 5 nuclear carriers into harbor for "routine" (?) inspections. Heads of the Navy were flabbergasted by the directive but had to comply as it was a direct order from their Commander-in-Chief. The carriers were all pulled out from the MIDDLE EAST and the Afghanistan support role leaving our land forces naked and exposed! NORFOLK, VA. (February 8, 2014). This is the first time since WWII that five nuclear powered aircraft carriers were docked together. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are all in port at Naval Station Norfolk , Va. , the world’s largest naval station. Knowledgeable sources stated that this breached a long standing military protocol in the Navy meant to avoid a massive enemy strike on major US forces. (U..S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Ryan J. Courtade/Released). Obama is ‘Commander in chief’. This ordering of most of the Navy's capitol ships into one place is unprecedented since Pearl Harbor !  This could be the creation of a false flag atomic incident too stupid for any enemy to pass up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also, why did the following happen?  Is this a routine changing of the guard?  Or what?  I'm afraid of the "what"! Major General Paul Vallely (Ret) : This long list of senior military officers and one sergeant major comes at no great surprise to me because of the direction this country is heading.   Here is the list of our military elite who have been purged or fired under Obama: Commanding Generals fired: · General John R. Allen -U.S. Marines Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] (Nov 2012) · Major General Ralph Baker (2 Star)-U.S. Army Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn in Africa (April 2013) · Major General Michael Carey (2 Star)-U.S. Air Force Commander of the 20th US Air Force in charge of 9,600 people and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Oct 2013) · Colonel James Christmas -U.S. Marines Commander 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit & Commander Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Unit (July   2013) · Major General Peter Fuller -U.S. Army Commander in Afghanistan (May 2011) · Major General Charles M.M. Gurganus -U.S. Marine Corps Regional Commander of SW and I Marine Expeditionary Force in Afghanistan (Oct 2013) · General Carter F. Ham -U.S. Army African Command (Oct 2013) · Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon (3 Star), Jr.-U.S. Army 58th Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point , NY (2013) · Command Sergeant Major Don B Jordan -U.S. Army 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (suspended Oct 2013) · General James Mattis -U.S. Marines Chief of CentCom (May 2013) · Colonel Daren Margolin -U.S. Marine in charge of Quantico 's Security Battalion (Oct 2013) · General Stanley McChrystal -U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (June 2010) · General David D. McKiernan -U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (2009) · General David Petraeus -Director of CIA from September 2011 to November 2012 & U.S. Army Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] and Commander U.S. Forces Afghanistan [USFOR-A] (Nov 2012) · Brigadier General Bryan Roberts -U.S. Army Commander 2nd Brigade (May 2013) · Major General Gregg A. Sturdevant -U.S. Marine Corps Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for the U.S. Pacific Command & Commander of Aviation Wing at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan (Sept 2013) · Colonel Eric Tilley -U.S. Army Commander of Garrison Japan (Nov 2013) · Brigadier General Bryan Wampler -U.S. Army Commanding General of 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command [TSC] (suspended Oct 2013) Commanding Admirals fired: · Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette - U.S. Navy Commander John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group Three (Oct 2012) · Vice Admiral Tim Giardina(3 Star, demoted to 2 Star) -U.S. Navy Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Command, Commander of the Submarine Group Trident, Submarine Group 9 and Submarine Group 10 (Oct 2013) Naval Officers fired: (All in 2011) · Captain David Geisler -U.S. Navy Commander Task Force 53 in Bahrain (Oct 2011) · Commander Laredo Bell -U.S. Navy Commander Naval Support Activity Saratoga Springs , NY (Aug 2011) · Lieutenant Commander Kurt Boenisch -Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011) · Commander Nathan Borchers -U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Stout (Mar 2011) · Commander Robert Brown -U.S. Navy Commander Beachmaster Unit 2 Fort Story , VA (Aug 2011) · Commander Andrew Crowe -Executive Officer Navy Region Center Singapore (Apr 2011) · Captain Robert Gamberg -Executive Officer carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (Jun 2011) · Captain Rex Guinn -U.S. Navy Commander Navy Legal Service office Japan (Feb 2011) · Commander Kevin Harms - U.S. Navy Commander Strike Fighter Squadron 137 aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (Mar 2011) · Lieutenant Commander Martin Holguin -U.S. Navy Commander mine countermeasures Fearless (Oct 2011) · Captain Owen Honors -U.S. Navy Commander aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (Jan 2011) · Captain Donald Hornbeck -U.S. Navy Commander Destroyer Squadron 1 San Diego (Apr 2011) · Rear Admiral Ron Horton -U.S. Navy Commander Logistics Group, Western Pacific (Mar 2011) · Commander Etta Jones -U.S. Navy Commander amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011) · Commander Ralph Jones -Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Green Bay (Jul 2011) · Commander Jonathan Jackson -U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 134, deployed aboard carrier Carl Vinson (Dec 2011) · Captain Eric Merrill -U.S. Navy Commander submarine Emory S. Land (Jul 2011) · Captain William Mosk -U.S. Navy Commander Naval Station Rota , U.S. Navy Commander Naval Activities Spain (Apr 2011) · Commander Timothy Murphy -U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island , WA (Apr 2011) · Commander Joseph Nosse -U.S. Navy Commander ballistic-missile submarine Kentucky (Oct 2011) · Commander Mark Olson -U.S. Navy Commander destroyer The Sullivans FL (Sep 2011) · Commander John Pethel -Executive Officer amphibious transport dock New York (Dec 2011) · Commander Karl Pugh -U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 141 Whidbey Island , WA (Jul 2011) · Commander Jason Strength -U.S. Navy Commander of Navy Recruiting District Nashville , TN (Jul 2011) · Captain Greg Thomas -U.S. Navy Commander Norfolk Naval Shipyard (May 2011) · Commander Mike Varney -U.S. Navy Commander attack submarine

That grouping of ships at Norfolk did include five aircraft carriers (the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS George H.W. Bush, USS Enterprise, USS Harry S. Truman, and USS Abraham Lincoln, but they were not all "first line" carriers, they were not diverted from the Middle East or ordered into port for "routine inspections," nor was this the first time such a collection of carriers had taken place since World War II: 

The USS Enterprise (CVN 65) was no longer a "first line" ship at the time this photograph was taken, as it had already begun the process of deactivation at the beginning of December 2012 (a step towards its planned decommissioning) and "will never again go to sea under her own power."

As noted by the U.S. Navy, the other four aircraft carriers all had planned, routine reasons for being in port at Norfolk in December 2012; none of these ships was abruptly or unexpectedly "ordered into harbor for routine inspections":

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER's deployment to the Persian Gulf region was extended recently when her replacement, the Pacific carrier NIMITZ, needed to undergo emergency repairs. IKE is home for about two months to have her flight deck resurfaced, then will return to Central Command's Fifth Fleet.

Sheds cover the ABRAHAM LINCOLN's flight deck as she prepares to cross to Newport News early next year to begin a three-and-a-half-year refueling overhaul, the most comprehensive refit a carrier will undergo in its 50-year service life.

HARRY S. TRUMAN has completed most of her training and is expected to deploy to the Fifth Fleet region later this winter.

GEORGE H. W. BUSH completed a major overhaul in early December and is in the early stages of deployment work ups.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had returned to Norfolk three months earlier than previously scheduled in order to resurface its flight deck prior to a planned redeployment; the USS Harry S. Truman had returned to Norfolk from its previous deployment in December 2010 and as of December 2012 was still awaiting redeployment orders; the USS George H.W. Bush had completed an overhaul and remained at Norfolk while conducting sea trials in preparation for an upcoming training cycle and deployment; and USS Abraham Lincoln remained at Norfolk while awaiting departure for a refueling complex overhaul at Newport News shipyard (which was delayed due to a lack of funding).

The December 2012 occurrence wasn't the first time since World War II that five aircraft carriers (or five nuclear powered aircraft carriers) had all been docked in the same place at the same time. A similar coincidental grouping took place at Norfolk in July 1997, and at the time a Navy spokesman stated that such a move was "not considered a security risk":

For the first time, all five Norfolk-based nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will be moored at their home port, and all of it in time for Independence Day.

For nearly a week beginning [2 July 1997], the flattops will be nextdoor neighbors along the piers at Norfolk Naval Base, Navy spokesman Mike Maus said.

"It just worked out that way," Maus said. "There was no plan to say, 'Let's bring all the carriers in for the Fourth of July.' Between scheduling for normal routine operations and shipyard stuff, that's how it happened to fall into place."

Usually only two or three of the carriers are in port together, with others out on exercises or deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, or at the shipyard for repairs, Maus said.

All five will remain at the base until [8 July], when the USS Theodore Roosevelt will head to Newport News Shipbuilding for an overhaul that is expected to take about a year.

Four carriers will be beside each other, with two each at Piers 11 and 12. The fifth will be at Pier 7, the other pier deep enough to accommodate an carrier.

The Navy doesn't consider having all five in port at the same time to be a security risk, Maus said: "At this particular time, we don't really have much of a threat from anybody."

Last updated:   8 March 2014

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