Carrier Strike Group Twelve (CSG-12 or CARSTRKGRU 12) is one of four U.S. Navy carrier strike groups currently assigned to the United States Fleet Forces Command. is the aircraft carrier assigned as the strike group's flagship. Units currently assigned to Carrier Strike Group Twelve included Carrier Air Wing Eight; the s and ; and Destroyer Squadron 2. Between 2006 and 2011, with as its flagship, the group made four deployments to the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Middle East. Strike group aircraft flew over 13,000 air combat missions in support of coalition ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 2006's Operation Medusa and Operation Mountain Fury in Iraq. The group's surface warships were also involved in several high-profile anti-piracy operations. The group participated in the multilateral exercises Anatolian Sun 2006, Reliant Mermaid 2007, BALTOPS 2008, and Malabar 2015; the bilateral exercise Inspired Union 2006; and the joint exercise Exercise Bold Alligator 2012. The 2015 deployment was led by its new flagship, , which has since left the group and shifted homeport to Naval Base San Diego, California. Carrier Strike Group Twelve was the first U.S. Navy carrier strike group to deploy with a Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability that integrates all units via a data link to gain a more comprehensive overview of its operational battlespace. To augment this NIFC-CA capability, the strike group embarked the new E-2D airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, making its first overseas deployment. Predecessor history 1966-2004 After 8 December 1966, (flag) and of Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla 8 were involved in the response to the sinking of off Greece. Commanding CRUDESFLOT 8 at the time was Rear Admiral John D. Bulkeley. On 30 June 1973, Commander Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 8 was re-designated as Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8 (CCDG-8). Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8 subsequently served as the Immediate Superior-in-Command (ISIC) for the , , and carrier battle groups. The group took part in Operation Southern Watch and Operation Deny Flight. In 1986, while commanding Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8, Rear Admiral David E. Jeremiah commanded the Saratoga group and Task Group 60.2 of the U.S. Sixth Fleet during a series of operations code-named Attain Document. They were intended to assert freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Sidra as well as to challenge Libya's maritime territorial claims. The Saratoga battle group and the rest of Task Force 60 later carried out Operation El Dorado Canyon, a series of