Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said the punishment stemmed from the five officers’ “inadequate leadership and execution of their oversight duties."
A spokesperson for U.S. European Command reaffirmed the Pentagon’s earlier dismissal of the Russian description of the Black Sea incident involving a British destroyer as false.
The Reagan carrier strike group will “operate and train alongside regional and coalition partners” and provide airpower to assist U.S. and coalition forces while the U.S. withdraws troops from Afghanistan.