On 24 February 2014, Carrier Strike Group Two entered the U.S. Sixth Fleet's area of responsibility. On 27 February 2014, the group transited the Straits of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean Sea. During its transit across the Mediterranean, the strike group encountered and monitored a Russian naval task group led by the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov. Carrier Strike Group Two entered the Suez Canal on 18 March 2014, exiting the Mediterranean Sea.
