{"id":338256,"date":"2026-02-13T00:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T05:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-headed-from-caribbean-to-middle-east-officials"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T05:42:13","slug":"uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-headed-from-caribbean-to-middle-east-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/uss-gerald-r-ford-aircraft-carrier-headed-from-caribbean-to-middle-east-officials","title":{"rendered":"USS Gerald R. Ford plane service headed from Caribbean to Center East: Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group is expected to leave the Caribbean and head towards the Middle East in the coming days, according to three U.S. officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The deployment of the Ford and the three destroyers accompanying it will mean that there will be two aircraft carriers in the Middle East as it joins the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The deployment comes after President Donald Trump said earlier this week in an interview with Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the Middle East if talks with Iran about its nuclear program did not succeed. <!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur \" style=\"padding-bottom:66.55092592592592%\" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d24e1e63-8118-46d1-b491-8ba2452d47e7\/UnitedStates-Iran-Military_1770959789383_hpMain.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d24e1e63-8118-46d1-b491-8ba2452d47e7\/UnitedStates-Iran-Military_1770959789383_hpMain.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d24e1e63-8118-46d1-b491-8ba2452d47e7\/UnitedStates-Iran-Military_1770959789383_hpMain.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d24e1e63-8118-46d1-b491-8ba2452d47e7\/UnitedStates-Iran-Military_1770959789383_hpMain.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Caribbean\" alt=\"PHOTO: Trump Cartels Military Glance\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d24e1e63-8118-46d1-b491-8ba2452d47e7\/UnitedStates-Iran-Military_1770959789383_hpMain.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">FILE &#8211; In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Mass Communication Specialist 2n\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The crew of the carrier and the supporting ships were told on Thursday about the new deployment to the Middle East, according to the officials.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The New York Times first reported the Ford\u2019s new deployment to the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Ford is now expected to return to its home port in Norfolk around late April or early May, according to one U.S. official. <!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->The carrier had left Norfolk in late June for what was to be a seven-month deployment to Europe, but in late October it was <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/us-aircraft-carrier-strike-group-joins-trumps-campaign\/story?id=127419946\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\">redirected towards the Caribbean<\/a> as part of the Trump administration\u2019s large buildup of military forces to counter South American drug cartels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The carrier strike group will once again cross the Atlantic and the Mediterranean for a deployment that could now last as long as 10 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u00a0<!-- -->The Ford is the world\u2019s largest carrier and its presence in the Caribbean was seen as putting pressure on then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government. <!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Some of the aircraft aboard the carrier participated in the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/International\/explosions-heard-venezuelas-capital-city-caracas\/story?id=128861598\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\">Jan. 3 raid<\/a> in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas that led to Maduro\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/uss-gerald-ford-aircraft-carrier-headed-caribbean-middle\/story?id=130127299\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group is expected to leave the Caribbean and head towards the Middle East in the coming days, according [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":338259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3045,12099,904,3786,2216,6636,762,609,4914,6664,412],"class_list":["post-338256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-caribbean","tag-gerald-r-ford","tag-head","tag-iran","tag-mediterranean","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-official","tag-president","tag-trump-administration","tag-united-states-navy","tag-virginia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338256"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338258,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338256\/revisions\/338258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}