I am a member of the Theodore Roosevelt Association. It is a $30 minimum annual membership for those like me who revere TR as a life example.

I nearly fell off the chair at my desk in 2009 when I received an e-mail from the association inviting members to join the family cruise in Norfolk after the USS Roosevelt completed its tour of duty.

During our travels to Norfolk I was wearing my USS TR cap when on the down escalator at O’Hare airport some man above me yelled out, “Hey, have you been on the Big Stick?”

I turned and recognized him as Carl Rove, George W’s political advisor. We waited for him at the bottom of the escalator and introduced ourselves and explained what we were doing.

Rove said that he had been on the “Big Stick” as the USS Roosevelt is nicknamed after Theodore’s famous advice to “Speak softly and carry a big stick” Rove is a TRA member.

There were about 800 TRA members joining the cruise starting with a banquet with the captain and members of the crew the night before.

I remember the captain saying that when there was tension building in the world that members of Congress would check as to the deployment of the USS Roosevelt as to gauge how serious that it was – as the Roosevelt was typically there if things got hot.

At the end of a long deployment, the Navy invites the families of the crew aboard for a day’s cruise to see what their family member did on the ship. Along with the TR Association, members there were nearly 3,000 invited for the cruise. The air-wing had been offloaded, and the hangar deck was set up with a band, kid’s playground and food service all day.

Following the cruise the carrier that was first commissioned in the mid-1980s was scheduled to go into dry-dock for a major “refueling and complex overhaul.”

On Aug. 19, the ship began what is called fast cruise which is the final training event before going to sea.

From the USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs, I quote, “It’s been about four years and literally millions of man-hours of work that have gone into Theodore Roosevelt to get her where she is today, but we are now there,” said Capt. Daniel Grieco, TR’s commanding officer. “Thank you to everyone who worked extremely hard, especially over the weekend, to get us here.”

According to the Washington Post the USS Theodore Roosevelt departed, re-joining the fleet on Aug. 26. It is now back in the USS Navy’s arsenal. Members of Congress will be getting updates on the carrier’s location as when it steams for the Mediterranean, Mr. Assad should anticipate a visit.

President Obama now has his “Big Stick “on the water. I wish he, the captain and crew a safe journey and good hunting.

That is my segue to ethanol. Ethanol now fills 10 percent of U.S. motor fuel demand displacing oil from the Mideast with ethanol costing $1 gallon below the price of unleaded gas.

Cheap ethanol could provide 15 percent of the U.S. motor fuel use if E-15 is allowed to be commercialized and 25 percent of fuel use if the cellulosic industry is allowed to develop as the objective of the RFS.

No F-15 skycap is required to protect Iowa ethanol plants that have added to U.S. refinery capacity out of range of hurricane damage.

Ethanol is the most secure fuel production in this country.

The U.S. Navy is one of the biggest backers of biofuel, investing in production and adaptation of biofuel into its air fleet.

The reason why is that it is on the front line defending global oil transit routes, not only for America, but for China, Japan, India, Korea and others who need Mideast oil far more than the U.S. does.

Petroleum companies are doing everything they can to keep America at risk to foreign oil. They have spared no expense hiring paid liars and have bought every member of Congress for sale to undermine the RFS to retain control of their market share of the domestic motor fuel market.

In my opinion, this is not in the strategic interest of the country, but in the strategic interest of Big Oil’s pocket book.

Never mind that they put the lives of U.S. sailors and air crews at risk to defend their access to Mideast oil.

Shame on them. That is why the U.S. Navy promotes biofuel while Big Oil has their paid Congressman try to stop them.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is not deploying to directly protect oil interests, but it could become that very quickly.

When the cruise missiles launch no one knows what will happen next.

David Kruse is president of CommStock Investments Inc., author and producer of The CommStock Report, an ag commentary and market analysis available daily by radio and by subscription on DTN/FarmDayta and the Internet.