‘Ready for anything’: US aircraft carrier crew training for war with Russia but aims to deter threats

Published

3 years ago

October 26, 2022

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The crew of a giant US aircraft carrier in European waters says they are ready to fight Russia if the call comes but their mission is to deter threats and prevent escalation.

The USS George H W Bush is helping to test NATO’s ability to defend itself – a mission that became all the more real in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In the past few days, F18 jets have flown from the carrier in southern Europe all the way out to Lithuania and Poland on the alliance’s eastern edge, close to Russia, operating alongside warplanes from other allied nations and with NATO warships and ground troops.

The commander of the carrier strike group told Sky News his message to Russia is that his men and women “are ready for any mission”.

“We want peace – it’s what everybody wants,” Rear Admiral Dennis Velez said, speaking inside a hangar on board the ship, which holds more than 70 jets, helicopters and other aircraft.

“We want the war [in Ukraine] to be over and to bring stability back to the region and have a peaceful and stable Europe – but, for us, we are ready.”

Asked if that meant he was ready for war if necessary, the admiral said: “This ship, this strike group, our allies: we are ready for anything. We demonstrate that every day.”

At least two Russian warships have been watching the action, which forms part of a series of NATO activities, from a safe distance, as have Russian aircraft.

“We have seen them,” said Rear Admiral Velez, speaking on Tuesday as the strike group of the aircraft carrier and escort ships sailed through the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Italy.

As to what was said to the Russians, he answered: “Nothing… They have the same right as we do to operate in international waters, so we just follow international law and the rules of the road.”

The vicinity of Russia’s military and the knowledge that Russian forces are locked in a brutal war with Ukraine – which is not part of NATO but shares borders with members of the alliance – means operating in Europe is no longer just another peacetime training exercise for the more than 5,000-strong crew of US sailors on the carrier.

“It is a real change,” said Lieutenant Cordan Mackenzie, 27, one of the F18 pilots on board. Her call sign is ‘Big Poppa’.

“Most of the time what we are doing, it feels like training, it feels like a game but you come out here and have intel [intelligence] briefings and you fly missions with NATO allies and it really solidifies how real the things that we do in the world are and how important our mission set is: having a presence here in the Adriatic and having the US work with our NATO allies to make sure the world knows we are still a power to be reckoned with.”

She, and her fellow aviators, face the possibility of one day being ordered to fight in air-to-air combat against the Russians should tensions escalate significantly.

It is a type of operation that US, British and other Western pilots did not have to contemplate during the long war in Afghanistan when they were not pitted against a rival air force.

“It is daunting,” said Lieutenant Mackenzie.

“It is one of the things that you just have to rely on your training. Without a doubt, I think US-trained navy pilots are the best in the world… All we do out here is train and get ready for a fight that might come and I think when it comes, pilot to pilot, I hope we are the better man in the box.”

The carrier is taking part in a relatively new NATO series of activities called Neptune, which – unlike longer-planned, more predictable, annual exercises – allows allies to be faster, more flexible and more dynamic with how they test their maritime, air and land capabilities.

This is designed to improve their ability to deter Russia – a task that allies have focused on even more intensely following Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

“We have stepped up our readiness, our preparedness and strengthened the way we work together across the alliance to prevent and defend every inch of NATO territory,” Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, told Sky News on a visit to the carrier.

For example, he said this was also only the third time since the end of the Cold War that a US aircraft carrier group has come under NATO command, with all three of those occasions happening as part of Neptune drills in the past year.

The NATO chief also voiced new concern about Ukraine after Russia falsely alleged the Ukrainians were planning to use a radioactive “dirty bomb” on their own territory. The claim could be part of a “false flag” plot by Moscow to launch such an attack and blame Kyiv.

“Russia has accused others of things they intend to do themselves, so we need to monitor closely what Russia now does. And they must know that use of a dirty bomb or a radiological bomb is a serious escalation,” Mr Stoltenberg said.

Asked how NATO would respond to such an attack, he said: “It will be a very serious escalation.”

Allies are also concerned that Vladimir Putin could even resort to a nuclear strike as his forces suffer defeats at the hands of Ukraine’s military, backed by Western weapons.

The head of NATO said: “The likelihood of any use of a nuclear weapon in Ukraine remains low, at the same time the consequences are so devastating, so enormous it is a risk we have to take seriously.”

US

Farmer becomes first person to die during Trump’s ICE raids

Published

3 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Farmer becomes first person to die during Trump's ICE raids

A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.

Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.

His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.

The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.

“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.

Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.

Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.

Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.

“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.

In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.

“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.

US

Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

Published

3 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship

Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”

He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.

“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.

“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.

She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.

O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.

This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.

But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.

Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.

“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.

“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”

US

Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Published

19 hours ago

July 12, 2025

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.

The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.

Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.

Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”

In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.

Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.

“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.

“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.

He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”

Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.

The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.

Trump’s tariff threats and delays

On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.

The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.

However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.

In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.

However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.

As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.

Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.