The American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has returned home after a record-long deployment that included a war with Iran and the capture of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, UNN reports, citing CNN.
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The largest and newest U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, returned to port in Virginia on Saturday after nearly a year at sea, during which it participated in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a war with Iran, experienced a fire on board, and repeated plumbing issues.
This will go down in history as the longest operational deployment of an aircraft carrier since the end of the Vietnam War, a voyage during which the ship became a central point for executing a series of U.S. President Donald Trump's military objectives abroad.
For the sailors' families, the return was a long-awaited conclusion to a tense year in which service members participated in military operations that dominated the news. On Saturday, they gathered in Norfolk to welcome the carrier's return home, cheering its arrival at the pier.
Sailors on board waved to the crowd holding several homemade signs, including one that read: "I missed you! Glad you're back."
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his wife welcomed the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford home after a deployment of over 300 days.