{"id":134817,"date":"2026-03-09T22:34:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/09\/uss-george-hw-bush-completes-pre-deployment-exercise\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:04:13","slug":"uss-george-hw-bush-completes-pre-deployment-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/09\/uss-george-hw-bush-completes-pre-deployment-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"USS George H.W. Bush completes pre-deployment exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and its strike group finished a pre-deployment training event that prepares naval forces for long-term sustained combat, according<\/a> to the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carrier completed Composite Training Unit Exercise, or COMPTUEX, on March 5, certifying and readying the carrier strike group for deployment for U.S. Fleet Forces Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOMPTUEX is the certification event for the strike group to let us know we are ready for major combat operations around the world,\u201d said Rear Adm. Alexis Walker, commander of Carrier Strike Group 10. \u201cIt brings the entire strike group team together and enables us to operate as we would when we\u2019re forward deployed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event takes place over several weeks, during which naval units undergo air, surface, subsurface and cyber warfare training, operating alongside allied forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrier Air Wing 7, which is assigned to the Bush and comprises nine squadrons totaling approximately 2,400 sailors and aviators, also participated in COMPTUEX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air wing flew 1,586 sorties and logged 693 arrested landings during the day and 682 at night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy does not comment on future operations, so it\u2019s unknown when and if the Bush will officially deploy, and if so, where it will go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Hunter Stires, a senior fellow at the Center for Maritime Strategy who served as a maritime strategist to former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, believed the carrier\u2019s COMPTUEX completion meant it was gearing up for a deployment to the Middle East, potentially to relieve the USS Gerald R. Ford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is past time for Ford and her strike group to come home,\u201d Stires said. \u201cHaving performed superbly in combat operations in two theaters, the sailors of the Ford strike group have had their deployment extended twice and have been away from their families far longer than is healthy for the force to sustain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t