US extends carrier strike group Middle East mission, sends Patriot missile defense system to Iraq

The U.S. military extended the deployment of two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East and has begun moving Patriot air defense missile systems into Iraq after an attack blamed on a Hashd al-Shaabi militia.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved his request to extend the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which has been in CENTCOM’s area of operations since December. “We’re gonna keep them for a while,” McKenzie said, declining to specify how long.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier joined the USS Truman and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group in the CENTCOM area of operations earlier this month.
Typically only one carrier strike group operates in CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, and keeping the Truman in theater marks the first period of extended dual U.S. carrier operations in the region since April 2012.
thedefensepost