Bush CSG will relieve Truman CSG
On 10 August 2022, the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (CSG) left Naval Station Norfolk (VA) and headed to Europe where it will relieve the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which has been in the area since December 2021.
Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, extended the Truman CSG as part of the United States’ response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Scramble Magazine reported on 12 July 2022 that the USS Truman was expected to return to NS Norfolk in August and that it will be relieved by USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77).
The Bush CSG consists of aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) and destroyers USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119), USS Truxtun (DDG-103) and USS Farragut (DDG-99). Delbert D. Black, Truxton and Farragut are part of Destroyer Squadron 26 and homeported at Naval Station Mayport (FL). The Leyte Gulf‘s homeport is Naval Station Norfolk (VA).
In August 2021, the USS George H.W. Bush departed a US Navy repair yard after 30 months of maintenance and started sea trials ahead of its reintroduction into the training and deployment cycle. This deployment is the aircraft carrier’s first deployment since 2017, when it deployed to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, where the carrier conducted flights and sorties over Iraq and Syria.
The aircraft carrier completed its graduation exercise in July 2022 that included transferring command from US 2nd Fleet to Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) out of Portugal. The carrier completed an extended 30-month maintenance period last year.
The embarked unit, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 and normally based at NAS Oceana (VA), includes the following units:
Photo: still from USNI video