The Region - News from Feb. 21, 1986

The Navy has launched a major fleet training exercise in the Pacific off Southern California that, for the first time in decades, centers on a battle group led by a battleship instead of an aircraft carrier. The three-week exercise, code-named Readiex 86-2, began with the battleship New Jersey assuming the lead role. Fourteen other ships are also participating, the Navy said. Although the Navy has conducted numerous exercises using battleships in the past, the largest fleet training maneuvers have centered on aircraft carriers ever since those huge ships were developed. The exercise began just two weeks after Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger informed Congress that the Navy is planning to begin alternating Pacific Ocean deployments between carrier battle groups and battleship groups. The Navy said about 5,000 men and women aboard the 15 ships are participating in the exercise, “which will provide realistic multi-threat, open-ocean training for participating units.”