French Navy – France has deployed the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Eastern Mediterranean. Its Super Etendards are being modified to carry JDAMs. Will it participate in operations against Iraq?

• Daily Telegraph: France talks peace but sends warships east
• International Herald Tribune: France quietly polishing its arms in case it joins U.S. in war

European Navy – A European aircraft carrier battlegroup will be kept on standby at all times for power projection. The aircaft carriers will come from the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.

• Daily Telegraph: Blair and Chirac back EU naval fighting force
• BBC: UK and France admit Iraq differences

US Navy – Aboard the USS Ashland, in the Mediterranean Sea.

• Virginian Pilot: Ships’ phones, mail often unreliable

US Navy – ???while a trio of amphibious ready groups (Kearsarge, Bataan, Saipan) transits the Suez Canal.

• Washington Post: U.S. Warships Cross Suez Canal for Gulf

US Navy – The USS Theodore Roosevelt battlegroup deploys directly from its training cruise to the Gulf.

• Associated Press: Virginia-based carrier deploys overseas, straight from Caribbean

US Navy – The Navy continues to trim its force size.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy plans to cut ships, planes by fall of 2004

US Marines – With the 7th Marine Regiment, undergoing intensive training, on the border of Iraq.

• Washington Post: Troops in Kuwait, at the Edge of War

US Marine Corps – The Deputy Commandant, Manpower and Reserve Affairs provides an overview of the departmentís mission and vision for the future.

• Marine Corps Gazette: ManpoweróShaping Combat Power for Today and Tomorrow