USS Theodore Roosevelt Reportedly Due in Middle East Within 24 Hours

USS Theodore Roosevelt is reportedly expected to reach the Middle East within 24 hours, according to a November 15 report. Its arrival would bring the United States' regional aircraft-carrier presence to three, alongside USS George Washington and USS George H.W. Bush, which are already operating in the region. The reported timetable follows the carrier's departure from Singapore the previous week and passage through the Strait of Malacca. An assessment published on November 15 by the Institute for National Security Studies dates the departure to November 8–9 and places the carrier strike group in the Indian Ocean on November 13, heading toward U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility. The institute identifies Roosevelt, designated CVN-71, as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 9, with Carrier Air Wing 11 aboard. Its assessment lists the cruiser USS Chosin and destroyer USS Decatur as accompanying the group, while USS Paul Hamilton had detached to the South China Sea. The institute's assessment counted two carriers, 13 destroyers and one cruiser in Central Command's area, with four additional destroyers in the Mediterranean under the Sixth Fleet.