A contingency of French sailors will train aboard the USS George H.W. Bush while the De Gaulle, France's only aircraft carrier, finishes required maintenance, according to the Navy Times. The sailors will bring with them French Rafale fighter jets to complete the training mission.
The goal is to provide the French naval personnel with continued carrier training while promoting cooperation between the US and French navies.
"We want to demonstrate our ability to integrate with US military services. We want to show we do maintenance, demonstrate we can load weapons," Capt. Jean-Emmanuel Roux de Luze, French naval attaché to the United States, told USNI News last week.
"Today we are 95 percent interoperable. Our concern in our navy is, ‘In 10 years, in 15 years, will we able to work like that?" the captain noted.
The French officer later claimed that the move was less related to military matters than it was to political concerns. "Due to its size and power, the US Navy does not really need us and does not really need [the] help of other navies," Roux de Luze said. "The French navy we know in the future we will work with other navies, so you need to know how to operate with other navies."
As the Navy Times notes, the French sailors will have to adjust to the Bush's lack of a bar during the month-long training mission from April to May. The FS Charles De Gaulle has one bar for officers and three for enlisted sailors, each of which serve beer, wine and liquor.