WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st December, 2019) The US 2nd Fleet has achieved full operational capacity in the Arctic and North Atlantic, the Navy said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Seven months after reaching initial operational capability, US 2nd Fleet achieved full operational capability Dec. 31," the Navy said.
The United States officially reinstated the 2nd Fleet in August 2018 to prepare for a "return to great power competition," as called for in the National Defense Strategy.
At the time, the commander of US Fleet Forces Command Admiral Chris Grady said the US was re-establishing the fleet to meet new challenges posed by Russia and China.
The Navy on Tuesday said the fleet would focus primarily on forward operations and the employment of combat ready troops in the Atlantic and Arctic, but would also to a lesser extent help generate and train ground forces for any operations around the globe.
"2nd Fleet's devotion to the development and employment of capable forces will ensure that our nation is both present and ready to fight in the region if and when called upon," its commander Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis said in the statement.
The original US Second Fleet was created in 1950 and played an important role in the confrontation with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was disbanded in 2011 under then-President Barack Obama.
