The aircraft carrier USS Vinson was scheduled to depart Naval Air Station North Island today for a training exercise and deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle Eastern waters.
The cruiser USS Bunker Hill and destroyers USS Stockdale and USS Gridley were set to accompany the Vinson on its deployment. All three smaller vessels were also set to depart today but from Naval Station San Diego on Harbor Drive,according to Navy officials.
The deployment of the carrier group is not in response to North Korea's recent attack on a small South Korean island because the Vinson's deployment was scheduled long ago.
