The US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower docked at Souda Bay, Crete on Saturday after conducting joint naval exercises with the Hellenic Navy.

General Konstantinos Floros, Chief of Hellenic National Defense General Staff hailed its arrival as “an important presence in the crown of Greek-United States Cooperation, which is the Souda Naval Base.”

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG) has been conducting an interoperability exercise with the Hellenic Armed Forces in the Mediterranean Sea.

Hellenic Navy forces are working with IKE CSG across multiple warfare areas.

Hellenic frigate HS Psara (F-454) is embedded with the IKE CSG. Additionally, two Hellenic submarines are participating in anti-submarine warfare exercises, while Hellenic fighter aircraft will operate with the Carrier Air Wing fighters.

The activity as a whole has been planned and coordinated by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) and the respective U.S. authorities, to build upon partnership capabilities using NATO operational and tactical procedures.

“The U.S.-Greece defense relationship is at an all-time high, and growing stronger every day,” said Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt, U.S. Ambassador to Greece.

Advancing regional security

“I am especially proud to see the IKE Strike Group in the Mediterranean — a strategically dynamic region where the United States is stepping up its engagement.

“The cooperative deployment between our Forces is another excellent opportunity to strengthen their interoperability and partnership, helping advance our shared regional defense and security goals.

“The United States is committed to elevating and demonstrating our vital security relationship with Greece which is codified in our updated Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement,” Pyatt said.

“The IKE Strike Group is honored to work with our Greek Allies and build upon a foundation of trust and mutual commitment that spans 70 years,” said Rear Adm. Scott Robertson, Commander, Carrier Strike Group TWO.

“We are stronger when we work alongside our allies and operations like this. Integrating our maritime forces help to ensure free and open conditions at sea.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is a multiplatform team of ships, aircraft and more than 5,000 sailors, capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions around the globe.

Dwight D. Eisenhower is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of the ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the 34th President of the United States and General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Since commissioning, Dwight D. Eisenhower has participated in deployments including Operation Eagle Claw during the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, as well as the Gulf War in the 1990s, and more recently in support of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The carrier currently serves as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 10.