The U.S. 7th Fleet’s flagship Blue Ridge set sail from Guam on Tuesday after a regularly scheduled port visit that began Saturday, according to a Navy release.
The vessel departed Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on April 3 to conduct a planned patrol of the Indo-Pacific, a region it regularly traverses to help mitigate threats, provide support to allied nations and enhance future war-fighting capabilities.
“Guam is a strategic hub for the U.S. Navy and serves an important role in ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” said Capt. Nicholas DeLeo, commanding officer of Blue Ridge. “It is an honor to visit this beautiful island, where our Sailors are always treated with such hospitality.”
The Blue Ridge — part of the U.S. 7th fleet, the world’s largest deployed fleet — hadn’t visited the island since 2020.
Sailors and Navy personnel used their time there to stock up on supplies, the release said.
The U.S. 7th fleet comprises between 50 and 70 submarines, 150 aircraft and more than 27,000 sailors and Marines, according to the fleet’s website.
The 7th Fleet’s premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier George Washington is also on patrol in the Indo-Pacific, recently conducting helicopter operations in the Philippine Sea on Sunday, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
At a Singaporean security summit May 30, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the Indo-Pacific the U.S. military’s primary theatre and pledged an increased focus on defending the region.
“We do not seek conflict with communist China,” Hegseth said in a statement provided by a Defense Department release. “But we will not be pushed out of this critical region and we will not let our allies and partners be subordinated and intimidated.”
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
Read the full article here
