| Operation Assured Delivery | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Russo-Georgian War | |||||||
 United States sailors unloading supplies on August 24, 2008, at Batumi with Georgian Coast Guard vessel in the background | |||||||
| |||||||
Operation Assured Delivery was the United States Armed Forces' humanitarian response to humanitarian needs in Georgia following the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. The logistical operation provided medical supplies, shelter, food and hygiene provisions for the civilian population of Georgia. [2]
The 1936 Montreux Convention imposed severe restrictions on the ability of non-Black Sea countries to send naval forces into the Black Sea. No more than nine non-Black Sea naval vessels can pass into the Black Sea, with the tonnage of ships one non-Black Sea nation can send being restricted to 30,000. The non-Black Sea naval vessels can remain in Black Sea only for three weeks. The Convention also explicitly forbids the passage of aircraft carriers. [3]
On 15 August 2008, James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the United States intended to send two U.S. Navy hospital ships to Georgia. Steven Romano, European Command director of logistics, said that the US intended to provide supplies to Georgia and added that the US Mediterranean assets might be used for the operation. However, on 18 August, Kathryn Schalow, U.S. Embassy press attache in Ankara, while noting that a lot of actions for the purpose of humanitarian assistance had been already taking place, demurred answering whether the US asked for permission to allow the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy into Black Sea, with each displacing 69,360 tons. Turkey historically was "less than accommodating to the Pentagon's request for Turkish straits passage" and objected to the US hospital ships entering the Black Sea. However, On August 21, US State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said that "Turkey has approved three ships for transit into the Black Sea to transport humanitarian relief supplies to Georgia - that will consist of two United States Navy ships and a United States Coast Guard Cutter". [3] [4] [5]
As of August 27, 2008, the U.S. Air Force had flown 55 airlift sorties transporting 1,944,000 pounds of supplies since 13 August. [6]
On August 24, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS McFaul arrived to the Georgian port of Batumi. [7] As of August 27, 2008, the U.S. Navy destroyer had delivered 155,000 pounds of supplies to Georgia. [6] In addition, the command ship USS Mount Whitney arrived in the Georgian port of Poti on September 5 with additional supplies. [8]
As of August 27, 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Dallas had delivered 76,000 pounds of assistance for refugees. [6]
In late August 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused the States of using Operation Assured Delivery as a cover for delivering military support to Georgia. Media reports have suggested that USS McFaul docked in the Georgian-controlled port of Batumi, rather than the primary Georgian port of Poti which was controlled by Russians in order to prevent encounter with the Russian military. [9] Several Russian warships were deployed to Poti at the same time as Americans arrived. [10]
However, the USS Mount Whitney docked in Poti on 5 September 2008. American military spokesman stated that the right of inspection of the ship would be denied to the Russian military. Russian authorities were concerned about the ship's arrival, claiming that the ship were bringing significant U.S. military weapons. [11] The Russian Black Sea Fleet source also noted that it was command-and-control vessel in charge of other NATO ships in the Black Sea. [12]
Poti is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis and deriving its name from the same, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also home to a main naval base and the headquarters of the Georgian Navy.
USS McInerney (FFG-8), is an Oliver Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigate, in service with the United States Navy from 1979 to 2010. She was then transferred to the Pakistan Navy and entered service as Alamgir (F260) in early 2011.
The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in 2011 is that it "conducts the full range of Maritime Operations and Theater Security Cooperation missions, in concert with coalition, joint, interagency, and other parties, in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa." The current commander of the Sixth Fleet is Vice Admiral Jeffrey T. Anderson.
USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) is the lead ship of the two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships of the United States Navy, and is the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. Her primary role is to provide command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) support to the commander and staff of the United States Seventh Fleet. She is currently forward-deployed to U.S. Navy Fleet Activities, Yokosuka in Japan, and is the third Navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains, a range of mountains in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. Blue Ridge is the oldest deployed warship of the U.S. Navy, following the decommissioning of USS Denver. Blue Ridge, as the U.S. Navy's active commissioned ship having the longest total period as active, flies the First Navy Jack instead of the jack of the United States. Blue Ridge is expected to remain in service until 2039.
USS Monterey (CG-61) is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser that served in the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy vessel named for the Battle of Monterrey at Monterrey, Nuevo León during the Mexican–American War in 1846. She was built at Bath Iron Works in Maine. The ship was decommissioned on 16 September 2022.
USS McFaul (DDG-74) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for U.S. Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Donald L. McFaul. This ship is the 24th destroyer of her class. USS McFaul was the 11th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and construction began on 26 January 1996. She was launched on 18 January 1997 and was christened on 12 April 1997. On 25 April 1998 she had her commissioning ceremony at the Garden City Terminal in Savannah, Georgia. As of July 2020 the ship is part of Destroyer Squadron 26 based out of Naval Station Norfolk.
USS Mount Whitney is one of two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships of the United States Navy and is the flagship and command ship of the United States Sixth Fleet. USS Mount Whitney also serves as the Afloat Command Platform (ACP) of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO). The ship had previously served for years as the COMSTRIKFLTLANT(NATO Designation) / US Second Fleet's command ship. She is one of only a few commissioned ships to be assigned to Military Sealift Command.
USS Nassau (LHA-4) was a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship. When active, she was capable of transporting more than 3,000 United States Navy and United States Marine Corps personnel. Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, laid the ship's keel on 13 August 1973; she was commissioned on 28 July 1979. She was decommissioned on 31 March 2011.
USS Taylor (FFG-50), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Commander Jesse J. Taylor (1925–1965), a naval aviator who was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for his heroism in the Vietnam War.
Operation United Shield was the codename of a military operation, conducted 9 January to 3 March 1995, bringing a conclusion to the United Nations Operation in Somalia II. Commanded by the United States, two ships of the Pakistan Navy, five ships of the Italian Navy and six ships of the United States Navy formed a Combined Task Force (CTF) ensuring the safe evacuation of all UN Peacekeeping Forces from Somalia.
USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716) was a United States Coast Guard high endurance cutter commissioned in 1967 at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the sixth ship or boat to bear the name of Alexander J. Dallas, the Secretary of the Treasury under President James Madison (1814–1816). She is one of twelve Hamilton-class cutters built for the Coast Guard.
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. They are currently based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and fall under the command of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. It is the most decorated of the U.S. Marine Corps' seven MEUs.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 Marines and sailors. The 31st MEU consists of a company-sized command element, a battalion landing team (BLT),, a medium tiltrotor squadron (reinforced),, and a combat logistics battalion. The 31st MEU is based at Camp Hansen, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. The 31st MEU is the only permanently forward-deployed MEU, and provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military, humanitarian, and diplomatic operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Georgian Coast Guard is the maritime arm of the Georgian Border Police, within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. It is responsible for the maritime protection of the entire 310 km (190 mi) Black Sea coastline of Georgia, as well as the Georgian territorial waters. The northern half of this coastaline is since the 2008 South Ossetia war under the control of Abkhazia, though. The primary missions of the service are administration of the territorial waters, marine pollution protection, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, port security and maritime defence.
The Occupation of Poti was a series of Russian strikes against the Georgian port of Poti during the Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. The city was later occupied by Russian troops, who remained for some time before eventually withdrawing.
BALTOPS is an annual military exercise, held and sponsored by the Commander, United States Naval Forces Europe, since 1971, in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it.
Carrier Strike Group Nine is a U.S. Navy formation. The group is one of six U.S. Navy carrier strike groups assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. In 2004–09, it was based at Naval Base San Diego and its flagship was the Nimitz-class aircraft carrierUSS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
Destroyer Squadron 60 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. Destroyer Squadron 60 is one of three U.S. Navy destroyer squadrons permanently based outside the continental United States.
USNS Pecos (T-AO-197) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy, and the third such ship to be named after the Pecos River.
USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB-4) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB), currently in service with the United States Navy. The ship is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock (ESD). The ESDs are operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command with predominantly civilian crews, while the ESBs, owing to the nature of their operations, have been commissioned and commanded directly by the U.S. Navy. The ship was named in honor of Hershel W. "Woody" Williams in an announcement by then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, on 14 January 2016. Williams was a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Battle of Iwo Jima, during World War II.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)