Trump Reactivates 2nd Fleet, Puts Combat Aviator in Charge
If you’re like some Americans who whose hearts have grimaced at the decline of the military over the course of the Obama administration — and previous administrations for that matter — you are about to have renewed hope in the armed services branch of American government.
New energy and life has been surged into the Navy‘s 2nd Fleet and it’s about to initiate a return to a culture of a strong American naval presence off the east coast of the United States to the North Atlantic.
After World War II, the 2nd Fleet was established to keep Moscow in check along the Atlantic Rim, including east European shores.
In September 2011 during the Obama administration, the 2nd Fleet was deactivated because potential military threats by the Russians were perceived to have been diminished.
Since then, Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and increased its naval activity in the Arctic and north Atlantic. This activity motivated Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to restore the 2nd Fleet to its previous status.
And just who is to lead this command? Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis “took command of the Navy’s newly re-established 2nd Fleet during a Friday ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush,” according to the Navy Times.
Lewis, a native of Los Altos, California, is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a highly decorated combat aviator. In 1987, he achieved designation as a Naval Aviator.
Among other distinguishing honors listed in his bio, Lewis has received “the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit (six awards), Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal (seven Strike Flight and four Individual with Combat “V”), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards; two with Combat “V”), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, as well as various service and campaign awards.”
“There are some bad actors on the world’s stage,” said Lewis. “We call them competitors in our strategic documents. They intend to undermine and rewrite the order that America established at the end of World War II and threaten the very birthright freedoms that we hold sacred.”
Lewis told the attendees at his induction ceremony on Friday he intends to infuse a new sense of strength and purpose into the revived 2nd Fleet.
“Second Fleet has a storied history and we’ll honor that legacy,” he said. “However, we will not simply pick up where we left off. We are going to aggressively and quickly rebuild this command into an operational war-fighting organization. We will challenge assumptions, recognize, our own vices and learn and adapt from our own failures in order to innovate and build a fleet that’s ready to fight.”
The sentiment of optimism for increased strength of its presence in the Atlantic runs throughout the highest levels of the Navy.
“Like its Cold War ancestor, the revitalized 2nd Fleet will exert operational control over warships, aircraft and landing forces so that it can become a ‘well-forged fighting force with a fighting mindset, restoring large scale, ocean maneuver, warfare formation dedicated to the Atlantic Ocean,” Richardson said.
Fox News reported some of the increased activity in the area has included the use of submarines and spy ships traveling up the U.S. East Coast. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also made clear that he wishes to develop underwater nuclear drone technology.
While it may be a bit premature to return to 1950s cold war paranoia, the Russians are definitely pushing the envelop to see just how far they can push the present Trump administration.
However, it is a breath of fresh air for not only those serving in our armed forces, but for Americans as well, to see its leaders taking on such a strong not-in-my-backyard stance against any type of foreign aggression.
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