Naval Station Norfolk is set to receive the USS Gerald R. Ford on Saturday, ending a record deployment for a U.S. aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War.
The carrier left Norfolk on June 24, 2025, with about 4,500 sailors and later supported U.S. operations against Venezuela before shifting to 5th Fleet combat missions tied to pressure on Iran.
Pete Hegseth plans to greet the ship on arrival, after multiple squadrons from the Ford strike group returned earlier this week ahead of the full homecoming.
The deployment also included a March laundry-area fire that injured two sailors, displaced more than 600 crew from their beds and sent the carrier to Crete for repairs.
The return closes a mission that stretched from the Caribbean to the Middle East, underscoring how the Ford was used across two major U.S. military theaters.
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