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Reagan, strike group preparing to deploy

SAN DIEGO — More than 7,000 sailors will leave home next week when the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group deploys from San Diego for a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf regions.

The seven-ship naval force, led by Rear Adm. James Wisecup, commander of Carrier Strike Group 7 in San Diego, will leave next Monday, Navy officials announced.

“This deployment reinforces the Navy’s Maritime Strategy of limiting regional conflict with forward-deployed, decisive maritime power and fostering cooperative relationships in order to prevent and contain local disruptions before they impact the global system,” Navy officials said in a statement.

Joining the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan on the deployment are the cruiser Chancellorsville, destroyers Decatur, Gridley and Howard, frigate Thach and fast combat support ship Rainier. Rainier, an ammunition ship, will depart from its home port in Bremerton, Wash.

The strike group includes Destroyer Squadron 7 and Carrier Air Wing 14, which includes Strike Fighter Squadrons 22, 25, 113 and 115 from Lemoore Naval Air Station, Calif.; Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113 from Point Mugu in Ventura County, Calif.; Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 139 from Whidbey Island, Wash.; and Carrier Logistics Support 30 and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4, both from Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.

The Nimitz-class Reagan is commanded by Capt. Kenneth Norton. The carrier deployed to the Persian Gulf during its maiden deployment in 2006 and last year was tapped for a surge deployment to the Western Pacific to fill in for the Japan-based aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk when it went into the shipyard for maintenance.