{"id":86089,"date":"2024-09-12T15:41:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T15:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/09\/12\/the-aircraft-carrier-theodore-roosevelt-is-leaving-the-middle-east\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:05:59","slug":"the-aircraft-carrier-theodore-roosevelt-is-leaving-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2024\/09\/12\/the-aircraft-carrier-theodore-roosevelt-is-leaving-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is leaving the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon\u2019s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished, and the Theodore Roosevelt is heading home, according to U.S. officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the TR to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration beefed up the U.S. military presence<\/a> there last month to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard U.S. troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. commanders in the Middle East have long argued that the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier and the warships accompanying it has been an effective deterrent in the region, particularly for Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip<\/a> began last fall, there has been a persistent carrier presence in and around the region \u2014 and for short periods they have overlapped to have two of the carriers there at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to last fall, however, it had been years since the U.S. had committed that much warship power to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\t