May 17th Update

SHIP LOCATIONS:

• Ship & Group Locations Checked / Updated (5/16, 17)

SHIP LOGS:

May 15

• USS Swift (HSV-2): visiting Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo
  

May 16

• HMS St. Albans (FFG): visits Hamburg, Germany for the 823^rd anniversary of the harbor port festival

• USS Essex (LHD-2): returns to San Diego from Japan. Is planning to participate in RIMPAC, then begin an extensive maintenance period, then be assigned to 3^rd Fleet (SOUTHCOM) as ESG-3
  
• USS George Washington (CVN-73): Completes Sea Trials, ready to receive Airwing CVW-5
  
• USS Kearsarge (LHD-3): at sea, begin Afloat Training Group 2.3 Basic Phase with USS Normandy (CG-60)
  
• USS Vinson (CVN-70): visits Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
  

May 17

• INS “new native carrier design” (CV): India planning to design and build two new carriers, unknown delivery date, planning to use steam catapults, not ski jumps
  
• HMS Daring (DDG) visited Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia

• HMS Diamond (DDG): plans to deploy to the Persian Gulf next month
  
• USS Eisenhower (CVN-69): Completes COMPTUEX, CSG-8 composition updated, ETA Deployment updated to July-August
  
• USS Nimitz (CVN-68): returns to homeport in Washington
  
• USS Vinson (CVN-70): at sea, returning to San Diego (...possibly on Tiger Cruise, with family and visitors aboard)
  

GROUND UNITS LOGS:

• Ground units locations updated per DOD reports, up to (May 17), no changes
• KYRGYZSTAN: Russian Defense Ministry says it has no plans to close it's AB at Kant, even though Kyrgyz President says it's not useful to anyone

• JOINT ANTI-TERROR EXERCISE: 22-Russian soldiers arrive in Colorado for exercise, will be training with US 10^th Special Forces Group for two weeks, then leaving on June 1^st
• MOLDOVA: 1,500 protestors march in capital, protesting Russian troops in Dnestre

NOTEWORTHY NEWS:

May 16

• GREECE: economic instability produces run on banks, politicians warn of potential for pullout of Euro-zone, and possibly EU ...and possibility of civil war. Banks and stock markets consider return of Greek drachma. (...civil war? Really? I'd be surprised if the birthplace of western democracy would suffer a civil war over a tough , but overall temporary, economic condition ...but I'm not greek. If one did occur, I'd expect parties with ulterior motives at play, thinking they can take advantage of a bad situation, and I'd expect it to be limited in scope)

May 17

• ISRAEL: US seeks to booast funding to Israeli “Iron Dome” anti-rocket system