Senkaku Islands dispute
On 11 September 2012, the group came under U.S. Seventh Fleet command and soon began taking part in Exercise Valiant Shield 2012 off Guam ("pictured"). The deployment of two carrier strike groups for this exercise coincided with the ongoing Senkaku Islands dispute between China and Japan. After four weeks underway, the first port call of the deployment followed at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, the first such visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to that port. Following its port visit to Phuket, Thailand, the group participated in joint operations with Carrier Strike Group 5 in the Andaman Sea ("pictured").