Thayer Consultancy Background Brief

ABN # 65 648 097 123

USS Carl Vinson, Third Fleet,
Operating in Western Pacific
March 6, 2018

We request your analysis of increasing interaction between the U.S. 7th and 3rd Fleets,
sparked by the visit of the 3rd Fleet’s USS Carl Vinson to Da Nang, Viet Nam.
Q1. This is the second year in a row that the USS Carl Vinson has been operating in the
Western Pacific. What is your assessment about the initiative “3rd Fleet Forward” to
deploy the Third Fleet and the Seventh Fleet to operate together in the Western
Pacific? What are the causes and the consequences?
ANSWER: The U.S. Third Fleet is home ported in San Diego, California and is also based
in Washington state and Hawaii. It has responsibility for the eastern Pacific extending
up to the Arctic. The U.S. Seventh Fleet is home ported in Japan and has responsibility
for the Western Pacific. It is quite normal for ships from both fleets to interact.
Since President Trump took office, the U.S. has given priority to responding to the
threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery on the Korean
peninsula. That has meant deploying more military ships and aircraft to the Western
Pacific.
Q2. How will this initiative affect the situation in the South China Sea, especially when
China is likely to be more aggressive this year?
ANSWER: Secretary of Defense James Mattis has vast experience in Asia-Pacific
security affairs. So, the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson was designed to reassure
regional allies and potential strategic partners that the United States will continue to
be engaged in the region.
Unlike during the Obama Administration when the White House took firm control,
President Trump is comfortable with letting his Defense Secretary take the initiative
in deploying ships and aircrafts to meet security challenges.
What we are witnessing is a better thought out and more robust response to China’s
assertiveness and militarization of the South China Sea. The U.S. National Defense
Strategy has identified China as the main challenge to the United States and Secretary
Mattis is taking steps to meet this challenge. So far China has acted with restraint,
voicing no official objections to the visit by the USS Carl Vinson to Vietnam.
If China steps up its militarization there will be increased tensions between the two
major powers that will affect the security situation in the South China Sea. This
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assessment must be put in the context that North Korea is the top priority of the
United States.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “USS Carl Vinson, Third Fleet, Operating in
Western Pacific,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, March 6, 2018. All
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.