Migration
Guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher sent to Mideast
Stars and Stripes
September 23, 2014
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher departs Naval Station Norfolk for a deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Mitscher will conduct maritime security operations and ballistic missile defense as well as continue to strengthen coalition partnerships. (Jessica Kellogg/U.S. Navy)
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher departed Norfolk, Virginia, Monday for deployment to the Middle East.
The ship will conduct maritime security operations and ballistic missile defense in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, the U.S. Navy said in a news release.
The fleet’s AOR encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water around the volatile Middle East region, including the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
Earlier this month the Makin Island amphibious ready group arrived in the 5th Fleet AOR with more than 4,000 Marines and sailors. It’s expected to relieve the Bataan amphibious ready group, which has been operating in the region since March.
The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is also in the region, where it has been conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State.