Kitty Hawk Battle Group Enters Arabian Gulf
Release Date: 22 April 1999
Story By: JO2 Phil Beaufort
USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs
Aboard USS KITTY HAWK (Apr. 21, 1999)-- A Kitty Hawk Sailor stands a gun mount watch while transiting the Straits of Hormuz to the Arabian Gulf onboard USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63). KITTY HAWK is currently participating in Operation Southern Watch in the Arabian Gulf. Official US Navy photograph by PH3 Chris D. Howell.
The USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) Battle Group and Carrier Air Wing Five transited through the Strait of Hormuz April 20, relieving the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) Battle Group who is completing a regularly scheduled deployment to the region. Kitty Hawk, USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) and USS Chancellorsville (CG-62), all based in Yokosuka, Japan, took station in the Arabian Gulf to participate in Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the ‘no-fly zone’ over Southern Iraq and conducting Maritime Interception Operations supporting United Nations Sanctions.
Kitty Hawk, commanded by Capt. Matthew W. Tuohy, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was called to the gulf after President Clinton ordered the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) Battle Group to the Adriatic Sea to support NATO forces in Yugoslavia.
Before heading to the gulf, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jay Johnson spoke to several thousand sailors on Kitty Hawk’s 4.1-acre flight deck April 3rd, and thanked them for being the navy’s 'go-to' team. "When we originally planned this trip to Guam it was to thank you for the job you just completed, but now I’m here to thank you for the job you’re going to do."
Kitty Hawk, America’s only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, had just completed exercise Tandem Thrust ‘99, an annual, multi-national training exercise in the waters off Guam, when it was ordered to the Arabian Gulf.
Abaord USS KITTY HAWK (Apr. 21, 1999)-- A Kitty Hawk Sailor stands the aft look out watch while USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) transits the Straits of Hormuz into the Arabian Gulf . KITTY HAWK is currently participating in Operation Southern Watch in the Arabian Gulf. Official US Navy photograph by PH3 Chris D. Howell.
Abaord USS KITTY HAWK (Apr. 21, 1999)-- A Kitty Hawk Sailor stands a gun mount watch while USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) transits the Straits of Hormuz into the Arabian Gulf. KITTY HAWK is currently participating in Operation Southern Watch in the Arabian Gulf. Official US Navy photograph by PH3 Chris D. Howell.
This is the second time that America’s forward deployed naval forces based in Yokosuka, have been dispatched to the
Arabian gulf on short notice. The former USS Independence (CV-62), with Carrier Air Wing Five embarked, deployed to the Arabian gulf 15 months ago to support Operation Southern Watch during heightened tensions between Iraq and UN coalition forces. Kitty Hawk’s last deployment to the gulf was in 1997.
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