Reading other sources to try and figure this out I came upon this.
"On the other hand, there is much talk that this was simply a communications blunder of fairly epic proportions—not just externally, but especially internally. If this were the case, it exposed key fissures in the military's chain of command and its ability to communicate with civilian leadership. It also makes it seem as if the administration does not know what the military is doing and vice-versa. This seems extremely odd considering that we are talking about the position of a carrier strike group here, not a small tactical anomaly or operation."