# Carrier Battle Groups - How Many? Where Now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319 "2002-12-28T06:04:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alien2022](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@Alien2022](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien2022)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/21 "2002-12-30T23:43:34Z")
Yea, one Carrier Battle Group, packs a lot of power… I mean a LOT. Think about this. If we fight a three front war, Iraq, Afghanistan (really isn’t a battle anymore, just occupation), and North Korea, that’s three Carrier Battle Groups per war zone, plus 2 left over. Muchless, with 500,000 troops, this isn’t a question of if we can do it, but how long we will be able to do it for. The logistics of food, etc, are extreme, but we did it back in WW2… ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/22 "2002-12-31T01:14:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > Why is the USS Constellation being decommissioned? Old age. They began construction on that ship back in [1957](http://www.navy.mil/homepages/cv64/noflash/information/facts.htm), and she was commissioned in 1961. The newest _Nimitz_-class nuclear-powered carrier, the USS _Ronald Reagan_, will be [commissioned in spring 2003](http://www.reagan.navy.mil/faq.htm#q2). The next carrier after that, the USS _George H.W. Bush_, [will be ready for service in 2009](http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/bush/naming.txt). The _George H.W. Bush_, CVN-77, is planned as a [modified version of the current _Nimitz_-class](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/cvn-77.htm). The Navy also has [plans on the drawing board](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/cvx.htm) for still more advanced designs after that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/23 "2002-12-31T01:19:32Z")
Will the USS Constellation be scrapped? Or converted to a Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare mothership? ---
**Author:** ![XPav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b77776/32.png) [@XPav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XPav)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/24 "2002-12-31T01:25:55Z")
Scrapped. Fleet carriers generally make poor troopships. The Essex-class carriers that originally served as marine assault ships were decidedly suboptimal. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/25 "2002-12-31T01:35:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*A slight hijack - > > What’s a carrier group the equivalent of, in military terms? A division or a corps? \*\* A carrier battle group is normally commanded by a rear admiral. The equivalent Army rank is a major general, who would normally command a division. In manpower terms, a carrier battle group represents about 7,500 personnel. That’s about half of a typical U.S. Army division’s authorized strength of 15,000 - call it two understrength brigades. In dollar terms, a carrier battle group is something ungodly, somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 to to $30 billion. I have no clue what army unit costs anywhere near that much. ---
**Author:** ![XPav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b77776/32.png) [@XPav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XPav)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/26 "2002-12-31T20:43:23Z")
Rear Admiral could be Brigadier General or Major General. Remember, Rear Admiral has upper and lower halves. ---
**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/27 "2002-12-31T20:47:10Z")
I read somewhere a while back that “they” were thinking about converting one of the old carriers into a special operations base. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319/28 "2003-01-01T16:35:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBill \* > **From Darwin’s Finch’s cite: > … > USS Abraham Lincoln - has been in the mix, scheduled to head home now, but there are still thinking about that. Waiting for word in Australia, I think.** They got word. The Abraham Lincoln, spending the holidays in Perth, is not coming home as scheduled. > [@](#): > > The nuclear-powered Lincoln and its battle group will remain deployed indefinitely in the Pacific Ocean and Arabian Gulf and ``will be available as required to meet national security requirements,’’ said Cmdr. Karen Sellers, a public affairs officer for the Navy. From the [NYTimes AP Wire](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-US-Iraq-Deployment.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrier-battle-groups-how-many-where-now/145319.md?page=1)