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Record Return to Norfolk
The USS Gerald R. Ford returned to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment and a record-setting 326-day run, the longest since the Vietnam War, that included support for the U.S. war with Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro when he was Venezuela's president.
“returned home to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment”
The carrier docked at Naval Station Norfolk alongside the USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan, with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand for the arrival and, speaking aboard the destroyer USS Bainbridge, told the crew, “You didn’t just accomplish a mission, you made history.”
The deployment’s length also came with a noncombat-related fire in one of the carrier’s laundry spaces, which left hundreds without places to sleep and forced lengthy repairs on the Greek island of Crete.
Families, Fire, and Debate
As the ship arrived, families gathered in Norfolk to welcome the carrier home, and Victoria Dobson told CNN’s Brian Todd, “I’m very excited, I’m very relieved.”
CNN also quoted Adm. Daryl Caudle stressing that he doesn’t “want that to be a precedent,” after noting that aircraft carriers are designed to deploy for up to seven months while the Ford was at sea for 11.
The CNN report said a fire broke out in the Ford’s laundry area in March and took the crew roughly 30 hours to put out, clean up and prevent from reigniting, with some 600 sailors losing access to their bunks due to the damage.
CNN added that Caudle said Saturday that the fire is “still under investigation,” and it described repeated issues with the Ford’s toilet system that resulted in intermittent partial outages and required a port visit for repairs.
What the Deployment Meant
The USS Gerald R. Ford’s return capped a voyage that CNN said served as a focal point for “a string of President Donald Trump’s military objectives overseas,” including participation in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the Iran war.
““a string of President Donald Trump’s military objectives overseas””
CNN reported that the Ford launched aircraft that participated in the capture mission for Venezuela and, in Iran, served as a platform to send wave after wave of fighter jets into action.
The report also said the ship’s electronic catapult system allows it to launch anything from small drones to big aircraft, giving commanders an array of firepower options, and it noted that the other 10 U.S. aircraft carriers don’t have that capability.
In the same coverage, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told families and sailors that “What the Ford Carrier Strike Group did, and these destroyers did, was exceptional, phenomenal,” framing the homecoming as the end of a year that included combat operations and noncombat disruptions.