Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG-9) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group under the U.S. Pacific Fleet, reporting to Commander, U.S. Third Fleet, and responsible for the training and material readiness of its assigned ships and aviation squadrons. Currently, its flagship is the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), accompanied by Carrier Air Wing 11, the cruiser USS Lake Erie, and destroyers USS John S. McCain, USS Halsey, and USS Daniel Inouye. The group traces its origins to Cruiser-Destroyer Group 3, established on June 30, 1973, and was redesignated as Carrier Strike Group Nine in 2004 while embarked on USS Abraham Lincoln. Over the years, it has conducted multiple Middle East deployments, providing air support over Afghanistan and Iraq and performing Maritime Security Operations, and it earned the Humanitarian Service Medal for disaster relief in Indonesia during Operation Unified Assistance (2004–05). Historically, the group has been led by notable commanders like Rear Admiral Jonathan Howe (1984–86) and Rear Admiral P. M. Quast, who led Battle Group Bravo with USS Nimitz in 1991, and it underwent significant reorganization under the Navy's 1992 "core battle group" concept.