Will the USS Nimitz deploy to the Western Pacific again?
Weibo, 牧星观海天的 in Weibo, 8/20/2023, from the PRC
https://weibo.com/1638620395/NfpX1EPGd
U.S. plans to retire the USS Nimitz in 2026, but will it see at least one more overseas deployment? The USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group left its home port of San Diego on 19 August to conduct "sustainment training". According to a Pentagon release, Nimitz, along with Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17), the destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73), and the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93), will conduct Sustainment Exercise at sea (SUSTEX). SUSTEX is a full-scale, integrated exercise designed to ensure that U.S. carrier strike groups are ready to conduct sustained combat operations at sea, including information warfare, air defense, long-range strike, and surface and undersea operations. Interestingly, however, the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon, which was tasked with tracking and monitoring the third joint cruise formation of the Russian and Chinese navies, is not currently on the U.S. West Coast, having arrived in Guam on 18 August. It remains to be seen whether the Nimitz will be deployed to the Western Pacific.