7th Fleet Focus: The Politics of Checking Your Six

For some reason when we read this, we raised a red flag.

The head of U.S. forces in the Pacific said on Thursday the USS Kitty Hawk, banned from entering Hong Kong in November, had not obtained final permission from China before setting off from its home base in Japan.

The aircraft carrier and its strike group were refused permission by Beijing to dock in Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit in November, causing a bilateral row.

Asked if it had had approval to dock in Hong Kong, Admiral Timothy Keating said: "My understanding is it did not. It got close, the captain of the ship ... realised they didn't have permission so they turned around and started back home."

A bilateral agreement stipulates that the United States must apply for port visits at least 30 days in advance, while China should grant or reject such requests five days before arrival.

But on the morning of the Kitty Hawk's approach to Hong Kong, sources familiar with the situation said Beijing still hadn't given approval for entry, with the aircraft carrier strike group was forced to wait outside Hong Kong.

Beijing later said the ships could dock, but by then the aircraft carrier and its strike group were heading back to Japan.

Admiral Keating was who held the press conference and spoke the comments that created an international incident over the Thanksgiving Day holiday port incident. This story has him backpedaling in a Carl Lewis sprint.

That story reads to me like Adm Keating was read the Riot Act, not by the Chinese, but by the dudes in DC. Prior to the trip to China Adm Keating was talking a good game, but something changed because his comments imply it was the fault of the Kitty Hawk Captain. Did Admiral Keating really go to China, saying things like “We don’t need China’s permission to go through the Taiwan Strait” without being fully aware of all the facts of the that incident?

Here is the problem with the story Keating is reporting, the Kitty Hawk left port on October 21, and family members of the Kitty Hawk CSG crew supposedly knew about the Hong Kong visit before the departure. In other words, the incident which occurred on November 22nd, implies the Navy application for the port visit was made at least 30 days in advance. What bothers me though is Hong Kong was long known to be the last place the Kitty Hawk would make port, in fact it was known back in July when the Kitty Hawk made its last visit to Sydney. Something is very wrong with this story.

This comes off as 100% political, it has been a long time since we have read a story where a 4-star throws one of his major commanders under the bus in the press, but in this story Adm. Keating just checked his six and threw the Kitty Hawk skipper overboard. That doesn't sound right either, but that is what Reuters is reporting.

There are some big chunks of this story missing, has the Kitty Hawk Captain been relieved? We have observed Captains relieved from command for much smaller things than creating an international incident between two of the largest navies in the world, but the lack of action implies that Admiral Keating is bring less than honest.