The USS Gerald R. Ford arrived back in Virginia on Saturday following an 11-month deployment that became the longest for an American aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War era, a mission that included involvement in the U.S. conflict with Iran and the operation that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro while he was serving as Venezuela’s president.
The carrier — regarded as the most advanced warship in the U.S. Navy — returned to Naval Station Norfolk together with two accompanying destroyers. Nearly 5,000 sailors were finally reunited with their families after being away since June. During the deployment, the crew carried out military operations across several regions while also dealing with a serious onboard fire that forced hundreds of sailors from their sleeping quarters and required extensive repairs while docked on the Greek island of Crete.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth attended the return ceremony for the strike group, including the destroyer USS Bainbridge.
Hegseth commended the crew of the Bainbridge for a “job well done.”
“You didn’t just accomplish a mission, you made history,” Hegseth said on the destroyer’s deck. “You made a nation proud.”
The Ford spent 326 days deployed at sea, setting the record for the longest aircraft carrier deployment in the post-Vietnam period and the longest in the last half century. Only two deployments during the Vietnam era lasted longer: the USS Midway’s 332-day deployment in 1973 and the USS Coral Sea’s 329-day deployment in 1965.
The unusually lengthy deployment has sparked renewed discussion about the strain placed on sailors who spend extended periods away from home, along with the impact on ships and onboard systems already facing heavy operational demands. Those concerns intensified after the fire aboard the carrier, which began in one of the vessel’s laundry areas.
When the Ford first departed Virginia last June, it was assigned to the Mediterranean Sea before later being redirected to the Caribbean in October as part of one of the largest American naval buildups in that region in decades.
In January, the carrier participated in the military mission tied to Maduro’s capture. It was later redeployed again as tensions with Iran escalated.
The Ford joined operations connected to the Iran conflict while positioned in the Mediterranean before eventually traveling through the Suez Canal and entering the Red Sea in early March.
Although the USS Nimitz technically remained away from home for 341 days during 2020 and 2021, that total included lengthy COVID-era quarantine and isolation periods while still on American soil.
{Matzav.com}
