That’s what really screams that this is all posturing. Reagan is in Yokosuka right now! She’s there, undergoing regular ‘Temporary Restricted Access’ to several areas including the flight deck. That means basically, maintenance and upkeep that doesn’t actually need a drydock session. But her entire air wing can operate off of NAS Yokosuka’s runways, no problem. This is why we have a Carrier Strike Group stationed in Yokosuka—to protect Japan and S. Korea. Carl Vinson doesn’t need to be repurposed whatsoever.
And the Kim regime knows it! They know Reagan’s there. They know we’ve always got a Carrier Strike Group in or operating out of Yokosuka. They know we’ve got the facilities there to keep three of the damned things over there, in case we need to adopt a more active stance. But we don’t. Because we’re not looking to offest China here. We’re dealing with a relatively isolated North Korea. And just freakin’ Reagan has enough firepower to obliterate most of the damned country.
If the Republicans had half a brain, that’s how they’d message this. They’d reassure the public that North Korea may talk a lot, but they’re not gonna start a war with St. Ronnie right there ready to nuke them into the stone age.
“Don’t worry, folks, once again, America and her allies can sleep soundly at night, because Ronald Reagan is on the job.”
I mean, the propaganda literally writes itself… except for one crucial factor: Trump’s 65-story ego. Let’s face it, any other POTUS w/an ‘R’ after their name would lean heavily on the imagery of “Ronald Reagan”. But Trump goes for Carl Vinson. Why? Carl Vinson was at the other end of the Pacific coast, bound for Oz. Nimitz or Stennis could’ve been tasked from Washington State. Roosevelt could’ve moved up from San Diego.
Of those options, I can only imagine that only Vinson and Stennis would even be remotely palatable to The Donald. Reagan, Roosevelt, and even Nimitz are names that even he would know invite the invocation of their namesakes: two popular Republican Presidents, and the CINCPACFLEET that won the War in the Pacific in WWII.
This man’s a joke. A sick, sick joke, and part of me hopes that every single idiot who voted for him chokes on his obvious incompetence, naked greed, and corrupt malfeasance.