USS Ford Headed Home. Finally.
USS Ford (CVN-78)
USS Ford aircraft carrier will be heading home after record-breaking deployment
By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and BEN FINLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, will be heading home following a record-setting deployment of more than 300 days that included participating in the war against Iran and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported the development earlier.
The arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush to the region last week meant three American aircraft carriers were deployed to the Middle East — a number not seen since 2003 — during a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. USS Abraham Lincoln also has been in the region since January as tensions with Tehran ramped up.
This month, the Ford broke the U.S. record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.
The ship’s 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.
USS Ford initially deployed to the Mediterranean but “Operational Necessity” required real-time assets in the Caribbean during the Maduro capture, then in the Middle East for the conflict with Iran. An unscheduled trip to Souda Bay for repairs added to the cruise’s duration.
Ford’s 295-day cruise falls short of the longest aircraft carrier deployment. USS Midway- long decommissioned- holds that record. During the Cold War she was deployed for 332 days in 1972-73.
I could mention a time not so long ago when the US Navy fielded 14 aircraft carriers and could cover two world conflicts simultaneously, but then Obama came along and fixed all that. Welcome home shipmates.
Category: Big Navy
BZ Sailors!!! Welcome Home!!!!!!
They got my longest deployment beat about 100 days…
Normally on your way out of the Med you might stop in Rota, Spain or Augusta Bay, Sicily. However, given the lack of support by those allies, I’d just want to steam home and NOT let those countries try and guzzle my crew’s sweat combat pay.
I have theories on why these countries didn’t support us:
1-They’re soft Euros with ZERO stomach for a fight
2-They don’t mind having their energy sources in the hands of dangerous mullahs
3-(Most Likely) Their militaries are in such bad shape
The RN couldn’t send one lousy ship without it breaking down. The French Navy had some idiot giving away its carrier’s position because his smart watch was still communicating to the cloud. Nice OPSEC frogs. ALL OF NATO except maybe some countries that border Russia have gotten fat-dumb-and-lazy on the US blanket of protection. #47 exposed them all.
I’ve read recently that Germany doesn’t have enough people to fill a division, and people up to the age of 70 were eligible to be called up.
Thank goodness I’m older then that (whew!)
Back in 1973, Germany still had a draft. I worked with a platoon of German paratroopers in a NATO exercise that were mostly draftees. They were impressive soldiers; and some of them only had a few weeks left on their active duty.
There is no accounting for the damage Obama has done to this country. The weaponization of race seems like small potatoes when you start counting all the other stuff.
Gone almost a year. Does that make their pay tax free since it wasn’t earned here?
In a word no, unless serving in a designated combat zone.
My son earned Combat Pay for his 2022 Med/North Atlantic Deployment. His regular pay was subject to Federal Tax (no income tax in FL), but the combat was exempt.
I’m sure he earned it, too. Sea story- during Gulf War Episode I my squadron was deployed to Sigonella, the logistics hub of the Med and not a combat zone. To support Red Sea ops we set up a two-plane detachment to Jedda, which was indeed a designated combat zone.
Every week in-country we would get a log flight from Sig. That bird was packed with as many people it could hold, because as soon as the folks stepped onto the ramp of the Prince Abdullah Air Base Ta Da! That month was tax free. There were re-enlistments performed there just because the signing bonus was eligible. Then they would all pack up and fly back to Sig and count their money at the E-Club over a beer.
This was all quite humorous to us flight crew and maintainers who got to stay and enjoy the ambience of Saudi Arabia.
“ according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements”
I hope they get found, shit canned, and prosecuted.