The Defense Department continues to move vessels and aircraft across the Middle East to improve U.S. force protection, increase the defense of Israel and ensure the United States can respond to a range of contingencies, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh at a press briefing today. 

The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group will replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the U.S. Central Command region, said a DOD press release on Aug. 2. 

According to the statement, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the U.S. European Command and Centcom regions. He also ordered deployment of an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East to bolster defensive air support capability. 

“These posture adjustments add to the broad range of capabilities the U.S. military maintains in the region, including the USS Wasp amphibious ready group/Marine expeditionary unit operating in the eastern Mediterranean,” the statement said. 

Austin spoke yesterday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to reiterate that the U.S. has ironclad support for Israel’s security and right to self-defense against threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, Houthis and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups, Singh said. 

“They discussed U.S. force posture moves that the department is taking for defense and deterrence and reinforced the need to de-escalate broader tensions in the region, to include strong support for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage-release deal,” Singh said. 

Elsewhere, DOD and the Ministry of National Defense of Niger announced earlier today that the withdrawal of U.S. forces and assets from Air Base 201 in Agadez is complete, she said. 

This effort began on May 19 following the mutual establishment of withdrawal conditions. Coordination will continue between U.S. and Nigerien armed forces over the coming weeks to ensure the full withdrawal is complete as planned, she said. 

“U.S. forces are still on track to meet the Sept. 15 deadline of a full withdrawal from Niger,” she said, noting that there are less than 24 U.S. military personnel still in the country. 

Separately, Singh noted that on Aug. 2, Austin signed a memo reserving for himself the authority to enter into pretrial agreements with those accused in the 9/11 military commission cases.  

As the superior convening authority, the secretary last week withdrew from the pretrial agreements that were signed in those cases, she noted.