The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group returned to its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk on Saturday, concluding a historic, gruelling 11-month deployment that marked the longest consecutive tour for a modern US aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War.
Thousands of cheering family members and senior military officials gathered on the piers to welcome home the state-of-the-art supercarrier, alongside the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan.
In total, the strike group brought home more than 4,500 service members who spent an unprecedented 326 days at sea, surpassing the post-Vietnam record of 295 days set by the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2020.
A Presidential Citation for Extraordinary Operations
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, accompanied by his wife Jennifer and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle, personally boarded the warships to greet the crews. Speaking over the flagship’s public address system, Hegseth stunned the sailors by announcing that Carrier Strike Group 12 had been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest collective honour a military unit can receive in the US Armed Forces.
“Extraordinary sailors and crew of Strike Group 12: for nearly a year, you have held the line for our nation,” Hegseth told the crew. “You didn’t just accomplish a mission, you made history. You made a nation proud. You showed the world what American strength is all about.”
(Sailors return to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., May 16, 2026. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Jennifer Hegseth welcomed sailors serving aboard the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge and the guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan. Credit: US Dept of War)
From Counter-Narcotics to Cross-Global Combat
The strike group’s historic deployment was defined by sudden shifts in global strategy. Having initially set sail in June 2025 for what was intended to be a routine deployment to Europe, the fleet was rapidly diverted across multiple oceans to respond to escalating international crises.
The Ford first shifted south to the Caribbean Sea in support of Operation Southern Spear, a massive narco-terrorist drug interdiction mission. While operating near South America, the carrier’s strike group launched the critical aircraft involved in the high-profile January 3 capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Following its success in the Caribbean, the fleet was ordered to transit to the Middle East. It served as a vital launch platform in the Red Sea and Eastern Mediterranean during the conflict with Iran under Operation Epic Fury, enforcing a strict maritime blockade and launching relentless fighter jet operations despite enduring a gruelling 30-hour onboard fire in March.
Answering the ‘Strategic Demand’
The staggering length of the deployment had previously drawn scrutiny from congressional lawmakers concerned with the toll taken on both the multi-billion-dollar warship and crew morale. Navy leadership emphasised that the extended timeline was a direct response to a rapidly changing global threat landscape.
“That’s not routine demand; that’s strategic demand,” Admiral Daryl Caudle remarked during the homecoming ceremony, praising the crew’s resilience. “And the crew has answered every single time. Stay ready, stay disciplined, stay lethal.”
With the USS Gerald R. Ford now safely back in Virginia for scheduled maintenance and repairs, the US naval presence in the Middle East remains fortified by the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike groups, which continue to patrol the Arabian Sea.
