Upcoming April deployments have been cancelled for a San Diego-based Navy ship and submarine, the U.S. Pacific Fleet public affairs office confirmed Friday.
According to the Navy, the deployments of USS Rentz out of Naval Base San Diego and submarine USS Jefferson City out of Naval Base Point Loma have been cancelled due to budget cuts imposed by sequestration.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet office says the Secretary of Defense has approved the cancellations.
Additionally, the deployment of San Diego-based guided-missile frigate USS Thach will be cut short, also due to sequester cuts.
The ship left San Diego on Jan. 8 for what was scheduled to be a six-month deployment in Central America, but Navy officials say USS Thach will now return home in April. The 220 sailors aboard USS Thach have been leading anti-smuggling operations targeting drug traffickers in Central America during this time.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet office says the Navy has been preparing to cancel some April deployments since early March.
Each respective chain of command has started notifying impacted sailors, and the U.S. Pacific Fleet says the commands had been previously told to prepare for these cancellations.
“The Secretary of Defense has directed, and U.S. Pacific Fleet is ensuring, that constrained resources are being prioritized to support forces operating forward, and to those being trained to relieve them,” the U.S. Pacific Fleet office said in their announcement.
