The USS Gerald R. Ford has set a new benchmark for U.S. Navy deployments for an aircraft carrier, with the Pentagon ship reaching 295 days at sea during a nearly 10-month posting that began in June 2025. The Associated Press reported that the deployment, which the outlet said included both a military raid in Venezuela and early actions in the Iran war, has raised questions about the effects of extended time away from home and the added stress on a carrier already facing maintenance problems.
The AP said the Ford’s 295th day surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, which had been set when the USS Abraham Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The AP reported that the record came from data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.
According to the AP, the Ford began its deployment in June 2025, departing from Norfolk, Virginia, heading toward the Mediterranean Sea. In October, the carrier was rerouted to the Caribbean Sea as part of a broader regional naval buildup, and the AP said it took part in the military operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
After the Venezuela operation, the carrier moved toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated, the AP reported. The ship then took part in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.
The AP said the deployment faced an added disruption when a fire in one of the Ford’s laundry spaces forced the ship to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs. The carrier’s prolonged time at sea and the equipment strain from the fire and repairs have prompted broader questions about how long deployments affect readiness and the people serving aboard.
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia raised those concerns directly, saying the record-breaking deployment has taken “a serious toll” on the mental health and well-being of the crew. In a statement cited by the AP, Kaine said the fire temporarily left “600 sailors without places to sleep,” and he added that “They should be home with their loved ones, not sent around the world by a President who acts like the U.S. military is his palace guard.”
The AP reported that Pentagon officials have not publicly committed to a specific timeline for when the Ford will end its deployment. Still, the AP said the Navy’s two highest-ranking officers both told the public they expect the ship to be deployed for around 11 months, which would place the return home in late May.
One of those officers, Adm. Daryl Caudle, said he expected a record-breaking deployment for the Ford in remarks during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the end of March, according to the AP. The AP also reported that Caudle told reporters in January he would “push back” on extending the Ford, and that he told the Associated Press in February he wants to persuade commanders to use smaller, newer ships in combat zones instead of repeatedly sending aircraft carriers.
The AP said the Navy has not formally disputed the record calculations reported by U.S. Naval Institute News, even though it has not described the deployment publicly as record-breaking. The AP added that another carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, is slated to go to the Middle East and was located off Africa after deploying two weeks earlier.
The Ford’s 295-day deployment, the AP said, still fell short of the longest U.S. carrier deployments during the Cold War era, when the now-decommissioned USS Midway deployed for 332 days in 1972 and 1973. More recently, the AP said crews of the USS Nimitz were away for a combined total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021, but that figure included extended isolation periods ashore in the United States to help prevent spread of COVID-19.