It was not always thus. It also signified that the mantle of senior partner in the region was passing from Britain , the prewar hegemon, to the United States. In October , Washington further strengthened its naval presence, deploying the new aircraft carrier Franklin D.
Roosevelt to the Mediterranean and using it to project dramatic displays of air power over actual or potential trouble spots from Athens to Algiers. From then on at least one aircraft carrier battle group β the basic unit of modern naval power projection β would be permanently on station in the Mediterranean.
In , the U. Throughout the Cold War, the Sixth Fleet operated an average of forty major warships in the Mediterranean. In the immediate postwar period, the Air Force followed suit, reactivating wartime airbases from Casablanca to Wheelus Field, Libya, and securing air transit rights through a corridor linking Morocco to the Philippines.
In , the first nuclear weapons to be based outside of the United States were sent to U. These moves consolidated U. This military force structure rested not only on the successful and large-scale deployment of armed forces in the Mediterranean during World War II, but also on the broad-fronted advance of U. This presence was evident throughout the Mediterranean basin, from the sprawling U.
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