By ALISON BATH STARS AND STRIPES • May 19, 2025
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman sails through the Mediterranean Sea on May 18, 2025, in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. Truman just ended about five months on duty in the Red Sea as part of U.S. military operations against the Houthis in Yemen. (Michael Shen/U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group will participate in a NATO military exercise in the Mediterranean Sea just days after leaving the Middle East, officials said Monday. The strike group, which includes the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, will be under the command and control of NATO as part of the Neptune Strike exercise, Allied Joint Force Command Naples said in a post Monday on X. The command didn’t say when that will happen. The first iteration of the annual exercise, which includes at least 13 countries, took place last month, JFC Naples said in an April 3 statement. Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, which oversees the exercise, did not immediately respond to an email asking about the strike group’s participation. Earlier on Monday, U.S. 6th Fleet confirmed that Truman, the destroyer USS Jason Dunham and the cruiser USS Gettysburg were on routine deployment to its area of operations, which includes the Mediterranean Sea. The Navy didn’t offer other details, such as when the carrier strike group left the Red Sea, which is in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, or indicate how long Truman will remain in the 6th Fleet AOR, citing operational security. It’s also unclear whether the destroyer USS Stout, which is part of the strike group, is in the Mediterranean as well. Truman’s departure from the Red Sea follows an eventful deployment that has seen the carrier lose three aircraft in separate incidents. It also caps weeks of nearly constant flight operations as part of a U.S. bid to cripple Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. The strike group’s exit comes about two weeks after President Donald Trump paused Operation Rough Rider, an aggressive airstrike campaign aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on military and commercial ships in the Red Sea. Since March 15, U.S. forces have hit more than 1,000 Houthi targets in Yemen, killing group leaders and fighters and degrading the group’s capabilities, the Pentagon said last month. In declaring a ceasefire on May 6, Trump said the Houthis didn’t want to fight anymore and had agreed to stop attacking ships in the vital waterway. On Monday, it appeared that a single U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, remained in the Middle East. Last week, Vinson was operating in the Arabian Sea along with the destroyers USS Sterett and USS William Lawrence and the cruiser USS Princeton, USNI News reported May 12. Truman left its homeport in Norfolk, Va., on Sept. 23 for a routine deployment to 6th Fleet. It entered the Middle East on Dec. 14 following the departure of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Soon after, an F/A-18 Super Hornet launching from Truman’s deck was mistakenly shot down by Gettysburg. The carrier lost two more Super Hornets in separate incidents on April 28 and May 6. All three incidents remain under investigation. And in February, Truman was involved in a late-night collision with a cargo ship near the Suez Canal following a port call at Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete. The Feb. 12 collision left Truman with scrapes and gashes along the ship’s right, or starboard, back end, including a small slash that penetrated its hull well above the waterline. Little more than a week later, the Navy fired Capt. Dave Snowden, who had served as the carrier’s commanding officer since 2023. Capt. Christopher Hill, then commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, was named Truman’s interim commanding officer. The collision also remains under investigation. Truman returned to the Red Sea in late February after a structural assessment and repairs at NSA Souda Bay. ALISON BATH Alison Bath reports on the U.S. Navy, including U.S. 6th Fleet, in Europe and Africa. She has reported for a variety of publications in Montana, Nevada and Louisiana, and served as editor of newspapers in Louisiana, Oregon and Washington.
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