October 16, 2023
More US troops have been surged to assist in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. And more could be deployed.
I told you in several videos, last week the President sent the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group along with a fighter jet squadron to the eastern Mediterranean Sea not to put boots on the ground but to be a deterrent to prevent other countries or groups from getting involved in this war.
Well – over the weekend, the defense secretary said the president also ordered the USS Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group to move into the same region.
The pentagon said the US military is also being used to provide planning and intelligence support to recover the hostages being held by Hamas and a “small number of personnel is being used to augment the embassy staff” as they work to recover the Americans being held.
The pentagon would not confirm whether a special Marine Rapid Response Force was being deployed to the region but several news outlets are reporting that they will be moved over from their current deployed location near Kuwait. That force consists of 2000 Marines and sailors who specialize in amphibious operations, crisis response, humanitarian assistance and special ops.
The Defense Secretary has also reportedly ordered about 2,000 additional troops to prepare for potential deployment to help with medical and logistical support. The order – which has also not yet been confirmed by the Pentagon – does not mean that the troops will definitely deploy or that they will serve in any sort of combat role. And it’s possible they would deploy somewhere other than Israel.
Read more from the Pentagon here.
Read the readout from today’s Press Briefing with the Dept. of Defense here.
