page_title: Carrier Strike Group 9
section_title: 2010–2011 deployment
hierarchical_section_title: Carrier Strike Group 9 / Operational history / 2010–2011 deployment
caption_attribution_description: English: ARABIAN SEA (Feb. 2, 2011) Suspected pirate skiffs burn from weapons fire from the guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) after Momsen disrupted an attack on a commercial oil tanker in the Arabian Sea. Momsen and the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 54) came to the aid of the merchant vessel simultaneously in a coordinated rescue and assist effort after receiving a distress call. Momsen and Bunker Hill are deployed supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Hull Maintenance Technician John Parkin/Released)
context_page_description: Carrier Strike Group 9 is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore.
  It is currently assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is the group's current flagship. Other group units include Carrier Air Wing Seventeen, the Ticonderoga-class cruisers USS Bunker Hill and USS Cape St. George, and Destroyer Squadron 23.
  The strike group traces its history to Cruiser-Destroyer Group 3, created on 30 June 1973 by the re-designation of Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 11. From 2004 the strike group has made multiple Middle East deployments providing air forces over Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as conducting Maritime Security Operations. The strike group received the Humanitarian Service Medal in recognition of its disaster relief efforts in Indonesia during Operation Unified Assistance in 2004–05.
context_section_description: On 11 September 2010, the strike group departed Naval Base San Diego, for its 2010 deployment under the command of Rear Admiral Mark D. Guadagnini. While en route, the strike group executed carrier qualifications and anti-piracy training, as well as anti-submarine warfare exercises off Guam with the attack submarine Hawaii. On 25 September 2010, the strike group enter the U.S. Seventh Fleet area of responsibility. On 8 October 2010, the strike group paid its first foreign port call at Port Klang, Malaysia, which was followed by a multi-unit ASW exercises held on 23 October.
  On 17 October 2010, the strike group arrived in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area, joining Carrier Strike Group Ten as part of Task Force 50 (pictured). For long-range air combat missions over Afghanistan, U.S. Air Force KC-135 and KC-10s provided aerial tanker support. The French carrier task group led by the Charles de Gaulle joined the strike group operating in the Persian Gulf (pictured). On 18 November 2010, the carrier Abraham Lincoln hosted seven ambassadors during a port visit to Manama, Bahrain, and on 6 December 2010, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates visited the Abraham Lincoln while operating in the Arabian Sea. A total of 999 War in Afghanistan-related sorties and 76 Operation New Dawn-related sorties were flown during the 2010–2011 Western Pacific deployment. On 28 December, with the carrier strike group operating in the Arabian Sea, Carrier Air Wing Two flew its 1000th sortie, amassing thus far a total of more than 5,884 hours flown supporting Afghanistan operations during this Western Pacific deployment. Carrier Strike Group Nine completed its final air operations over Afghanistan on 3 February 2011. Since 20 October 2010, Carrier Air Wing Two has launched more than 1,800 combat sorties in excess of 10,000 flight hours with a 100 percent completion rate for Afghanistan related missions. On 10 February 2011, Carrier Strike Group Nine completed its 45th day of at-sea operations, with Carrier Air Wing Two having launched over 7,000 sorties including nearly 2,000 directly supporting ground combat troops. Aircraft from Carrier Strike Group Nine also participated in joint aerial combat training exercises with the Royal Malaysian Air Force on 14 February 2011. On 22 February 2011, the strike group flagship Abraham Lincoln hosted a Brunei military delegation led by Deputy Minister of Defense Dato Paduka Mustappa Sirat.
  Surface warships of Carrier Strike Group participated in maritime security operations during the group's 2010–2011 deployment with the U.S. Fifth Fleet.  The guided-missile destroyer Halsey was assigned to counter-piracy operations in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Red Sea; and Momsen operated with Combined Task Force 152 in the Persian Gulf. On 5 December 2010, the Halsey and the French frigate Tourville participated in a bi-lateral naval gunnery exercise in the Arabian Sea to enhance coalition maritime forces training and coordination.
  On 18 January 2011, a sailor from the guided-missile destroyer Halsey was reported overboard in the Gulf of Oman, initiating a search-and-rescue mission involving helicopters from the Halsey, the fast combat support ship USNS Rainier, and the British guided-missile frigate Cumberland, as well as land-based P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and FA-18 strike fighters from Carrier Air Wing Two based on the carrier Abraham Lincoln. On 19 January, the body of the missing sailor was recovered 75 miles (120.7 km) east of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, and was identified as Petty Officer Dominique Cruz, 26, of Panama City, Florida.
  On 31 January 2011, the cruiser Cape St. George responded to a distress call from a sinking Iranian dhow by dispatching a rescue team via a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) (pictured). The U.S. naval team attempted to repair the dhow's dewatering pumps, but they were unable to stop the flooding. The Iranian fishermen were brought aboard the Cape St. George where they were examined by the medical staff before being transferred to an Iranian customs 
caption: Anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Oman (2 February 2011)
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