USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
The Shuttle Newsletter Edition
April 20, 2012 Issue
“We are Legend”
Ambassador to Kuwait Visits Big E Story by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Harry Andrew D. Gordon USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea – U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait Mathew H. Tueller and embassy personnel,including several Kuwaiti nationals, visited aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) as the ship continued its 22nd and final deployment in the Arabian Gulf April 19. The ambassador and embassy staff arrived aboard Enterprise to meet with Enterprise Carrier Strike Group leadership, tour the ship and interact with the crew. “The U.S. and Kuwait have a very special relationship that goes back to 1990-91,” said Tueller. ”Kuwaitis deeply appreciate the presence of the U.S. in their country and in the region.” Upon arrival their arrival, the ambassador and other guests were greeted by Rear Admiral Walter E. Carter, commander, Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, and Capt. William C. Hamilton, Jr., commanding officer of Enterprise. The guests then toured several spaces throughout the ship including the navigation bridge, Primary Flight Control, the Enterprise Room museum, the flight deck, medical and dental, one of the carrier’s Ready Rooms and Starboard Joe’s, the ship’s coffee shop. The group was also able to interact with Enterprise Sailors and Marines along the way before heading to lunch. “Bringing Kuwaitis out and showing them what the U.S. Navy is doing, and is capable of doing, really cements the bond between our two countries,” said Tueller. The visitors ended their stay on Enterprise with a
Rear Adm. Ted Carter shakes hands with Matthew H. Tueller, the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). (Photo by MC3 (SW) Britney Epps)
presentation of photos taken during the tour and a farewell by Carter and Hamilton. “Every time I have had the opportunity to visit a U.S. Naval vessel I have been impressed by our Navy’s discipline, organization and sense of teamwork,” said Tueller. Enterprise is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operation efforts and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
U.S. Promises A Long-Term Commitment To Afghanistan
By Greg Jaffe, THE WASHINGTON POST
BRUSSELS -- Senior Obama administration officials, faced with stepped-up enemy attacks in Kabul and war weariness at home, pledged a long-term commitment to Afghanistan on Wednesday and said their strategy to end the U.S. combat role by the end of 2014 remains on track. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took part Wednesday in the last highlevel meeting of the NATO allies before a key summit next month in Chicago that administration officials hope will finalize the United States’ and NATO’s relationship with Afghanistan after 2014. A critical part of that partnership is a commitment by Washington and its allies to fund the cash-strapped Afghan government’s security forces. The United States and its allies have generally agreed to spend about $4.1 billion a year on Afghan army and police
forces after combat operations end in late 2014. “History proves that insurgencies are best and ultimately defeated not by foreign troops but by indigenous forces,” Panetta told reporters. “When the Afghans do their job, we are doing our job. When the Afghans win, we win.” The money would pay for a force of about 230,000 Afghan army and police officers, significantly fewer than in a longstanding plan to increase the forces to about 350,000 by this fall. Although U.S. officials said attack levels in Afghanistan are falling, Taliban insurgents still have the ability to carry out large-scale coordinated assaults throughout the country. This week, insurgents made coordinated attacks in Kabul and two provinces. “As difficult a week as this has been in Kabul and other parts AFGHANISTAN continued on page 3