WASHINGTON—The United States has decided to extend the deployment of the George H.W. Bush carrier strike group to provide options to policymakers after last week’s deadly attacks in Syria by Iran-backed forces, U.S. military officials said on Friday.
The decision likely means the Bush strike group and its more than 5,000 U.S. forces, which are now in the European Command operational area, will not be returning to home port in the United States on schedule.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino confirmed the carrier group’s extension, which was first reported by Reuters.
“The extension of the George HW Bush Carrier Strike Group, inclusive of the USS Leyte Gulf, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USNS Arctic, allows options to potentially bolster the capabilities of CENTCOM to respond to a range of contingencies in the Middle East,” Buccino said in a statement….
