U.S. Marines from the 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, assigned to Task Force 61/2, conduct dive training out of the dry deck shelter of Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia while underway in the Mediterranean Sea July 27, 2024. (U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. submarine recently trained with American and allied forces in the Mediterranean Sea as the Pentagon bolsters its forces in the Middle East amid deepening worries of an Iran-Israel conflict.
The guided-missile submarine USS Georgia finished a series of training events with Force Reconnaissance Marines from the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion and special operations forces on Monday, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement posted to its website on Friday.
The training, a portion of which included forces from the U.K., Norway and Italy, demonstrated the ability of the service’s submarine fleet to easily integrate amphibious and special warfare into existing missions, the service said.
“Integration with joint and allied partners enhances our lethality as apex predators against hard targets in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations,” Capt. Benjamin Selph, commander of Task Force 69, said in the statement.
USS Georgia, homeported in Kings Bay, Georgia, is assigned to the task force, which is responsible for submarine operations within the 6th Fleet area of operations. The submarine carries up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles along with Mk48 torpedoes, according to the service.
The Navy rarely reveals the location of its submarines. But in November, U.S. Central Command announced that an unidentified Ohio-class submarine was in the Middle East as the U.S. worked to prevent the Hamas-Israel war from widening.
The Defense Department’s most recent show of strength follows Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s announcement on Aug. 2 that he was ordering more fighter jets and warships to the region in response to threats from Iran after the killing of a top Hamas official in Tehran.
Iran believes Israel is behind the death, but the Israelis have not acknowledged responsibility. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen also have vowed revenge.
On Thursday, U.S. Central Command announced in a post to its X account that Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets had arrived in its area of responsibility to “mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies.”
Otherwise, the Pentagon has not identified the additional warships or other assets sent to the Middle East. But open-source intelligence analysts on social media have noted several added Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea and Gulf of Oman, and the movement of air forces to and within the region.
The Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, including elements of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, have been in the eastern Mediterranean since late June. On Thursday, the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp was in Limassol, Cyprus, the Navy said in a separate statement the same day.
The Teddy Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which includes the destroyers USS Halsey, USS John McCain and USS Daniel Inouye, and the cruiser USS Lake Erie, is in the Gulf of Oman, USNI News reported on Monday.
The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is heading to the region to relieve the Roosevelt CSG.
The training in the Mediterranean included Marines and sailors aboard Georgia working to facilitate joint planning at a level not previously seen between the Marine Corps and the submarine force, Maj. Connor Smithson, commander of 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, said in the 6th Fleet statement.
For example, Marines launched and recovered small craft aboard Georgia to increase capabilities to accomplish combined arms attacks, personnel recovery and undersea warfare, the Navy said.
That level of collaboration “acts as a force multiplier to bring out the best of both forces’ capabilities,” Smithson said.
