KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The aircraft carrier Harry S Truman, the newest operational flat-top in the U.S. fleet, sailed this morning from Norfolk, Virginia. The Truman battle group is headed first for the Mediterranean and for waters closes to the Persian Gulf. And the sailors and officers know that they could be heading for war with Iraq. Our national correspondent Bob Franken is aboard the Truman.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're standing on the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman. It's going to be steaming toward the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, and it also is going to be steaming into the possibility of hostilities with Iraq. Of course, that gives this routine deployment -- it's a normal deployment -- gives it a meaning that is anything but routine. This flight deck, just to give you some idea of the magnitude, is 4.5 acres of flight deck. From one end to the other, it's almost as long as the Empire State Building is high. Above me is the top of the mast. From that point to the water line is 20 stories. This is a massive operation. It's going to involve, for a six- month deployment, some 8,000 sailors and Marines, more than 5,000 aboard this ship alone. As it steams to the area, it's accompanied by a complete contingent of about 80 aircraft, all manner of combat airplanes, various jets that do the various things that are done in war. There are 12 ships involved; it's part of the normal battle group. Now this is an aircraft carrier that is the most recent one in the navy. It has had one deployment before this, and that was right after the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. Now this one is sailing again into the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. The specifics of the mission are, of course, always kept secret. On, as I said, to a possible confrontation with Iraq. That is something that's going to be decided somewhere else, but it's something that will be carried out to a large degree from this ship. Bob Franken, CNN, aboard the USS Harry S. Truman.
USS Truman Leaves Norfolk to Prepare for War