The San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will head for the Arabian Sea when it deploys later this month, taking responsibility for patrolling an area that was covered by another San Diego flat-top, the USS Abraham Lincoln, until recently, when the ship turned for home, the Navy said on Monday.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle made the announcement during a town hall meeting with sailors at Fort Meade, Md. The get-together was broadcast live on several platforms.
The Navy has not said when the T.R., as the carrier is sometimes called, will leave Naval Air Station North Island. But it has indicated that the deployment will begin in September.
The Lincoln is expected to pull into San Diego Bay in late September or early October, ending a mission that has lasted about nine months and been plagued by reports of deteriorating conditions and low morale.