From the July 2004 Idaho Observer:

DOD to flex Navy muscles on the world stage this summer

The following story was taken directly from a Navy News Service release that came complete with a movie-style poster. The tone of the release and the corresponding “movie poster” indicates the Navy is “spinning” the most massive show of lethal force the world has ever seen to fool the American mind into believing the U.S. military is still out there “making the world safe for democracy.” Perhaps the American people can be fooled, but the rest of the world no longer views the U.S. military as “defenders of freedom.” Quite contrary to that position, the U.S. is viewed as a totalitarian monster and Summer Pulse is an elaborate, extremely expensive, sword rattling exercise intended to strike fear in any nation that dare attempt to obstruct its imperialistic objectives.

See “The New American Way of War” (The Idaho Observer, October, 2003) for a clear understanding of the aggressive posture the U.S. has assumed globally. The message being delivered to Americans about Summer Pulse is different than the one being received by the rest of the world.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Department of Defense announced June 2 that this summer simultaneous deployment of seven aircraft carrier strike groups (CSGs) will demonstrate the ability of the Navy to provide credible combat power across the globe by operating in five theaters with other U.S., allied and coalition military forces.

“Summer Pulse 04” will be the Navy's first exercise of its new operational construct, the Fleet Response Plan (FRP). FRP is about new ways of operating, training, manning, and maintaining the fleet that results in increased force readiness and the ability to provide significant combat power to the President in response to a national emergency or crisis.

Beginning this week and continuing through August, the Navy will exercise the full range of skills involved in simultaneously deploying and employing carrier strike groups around the world. Summer Pulse 04 will include scheduled deployments, surge operations, joint and international exercises, and other advanced training and port visits.

Under the FRP construct, the Navy can provide six CSGs in less than 30 days to support contingency operations around the globe, and two more CSGs can be ready in three months to reinforce or rotate with initially responding forces, to continue presence operations in other parts of the world, or to support military action in another crisis. Summer Pulse 04 will exercise the logistics and shore infrastructure necessary to execute a large scale surge operation, stress the operational concepts in the Navy's Sea Power 21 strategy, and improve Navy interoperability with numerous allies and coalition partners, as well as other U.S. military forces.

The seven aircraft carriers involved in Summer Pulse 04 will include: the Norfolk-based USS George Washington (CVN 73) CSG and the San Diego-based USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) CSG, both currently deployed, and Yokosuka, Japan-based USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). The Mayport, Fla.-based USS John F Kennedy (CV 67) CSG will begin a combined and joint exercise early this month, followed by a scheduled overseas deployment. The Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) CSG will conduct a scheduled training exercise followed by overseas pulse operations with the Norfolk-based USS Enterprise (CVN 65) CSG, beginning early this month. USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) will conduct operations in the U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command theaters during the ship's interfleet transfer from Norfolk, Va., to its Pacific Fleet homeport of San Diego.

The near-simultaneous deployment of seven carrier strike groups provides the Navy and the joint combatant commanders an opportunity to exercise the FRP while maintaining the ability to respond to crises around the globe, enhance regional security and relationships, meet combatant commander requirements including forward presence, and demonstrate a commitment to allies and coalition partners. Summer Pulse 04 is scheduled to conclude in August.

For more information on the Summer Pulse 04 events and to schedule coverage opportunities, please contact Fleet Forces Command media office at (757) 836-3600.