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After nearly a year deployed, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford pulled into Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, last weekend, and sailors were met on the pier by thousands of family and friends as the crew began disembarking. NPR reported that the ship remained homeward bound after a tour that ended close to 11 months after leaving Norfolk.
Families described the length of the assignment as grueling and focused on the logistics of coming back together. Helenna Parrish said she was “just happy she’s back on U.S. soil” when she spotted her daughter Asia—Asia is a culinary specialist—on the deck of the Ford. Parrish added that she was also praying for shipmates because “I know some are stronger than others,” and that she was happy “all of them” were returning.
NPR also reported that the Ford’s deployment included time across multiple regions, with the Navy estimating the carrier traveled enough miles during the tour to circle the earth three times. The carrier’s path, NPR said, ran from the coast of Venezuela to the Red Sea, where it launched F/A-18s to support U.S. operations connected to the war involving Iran. The roughly 3,500 sailors remaining on board, NPR reported, were those not already departing earlier in the week after the aviators flew off.
Others on the pier tied the “hero’s welcome” to how crews reset psychologically and socially when they return from shipboard life. Carl Castro, a professor at USC who directs military and veterans programs at the school of social work, said the welcome has “practical value” because it can help sailors transition from “the stress and camaraderie” of life at sea to “the quiet reality of life back at home with their families.” He added that leaders want crews to come off the ship thinking “every minute they were on that ship was worth it,” which Castro said helps build “resilience.”
Navy leaders said the reintegration process will be deliberate rather than immediate. Rear Adm. Gavin Duff said “we’re going to reconnect and reintegrate,” with the effort targeted “for the next several weeks.” Duff said sailors would receive leave and shortened work weeks, and he described the amount of time off as something “up to the individual commander.” NPR also reported that since the Ford left Norfolk last June, “roughly 80 children were born to sailors in the strike group.”
Adm. Daryl Caudle, the chief of Naval operations, met with families on the pier and said the Navy does not want to break additional deployment records. NPR reported Caudle said planners are trying to bring down deployment length because the Ford’s nearly 11-month deployment was far longer than the seven-month design target. Caudle said the Navy does deploy ships longer when it is called to provide combat power in harm’s way, and he characterized the deployment as a “once in a lifetime” event.
NPR reported that the deployment length has also taken a measurable toll on family life, according to researchers who study military readiness and home-front stress. Heather Wolters, a senior researcher at the Center for Naval Analyses, said deployments that last about a year make it “almost certain” that sailors miss major family milestones throughout an entire year. Wolters said that stress and strain can be “exacerbated by the extended length of time,” particularly when the duration is not anticipated beforehand.
As sailors prepared to come ashore, NPR reported concerns about the practical challenges of life on the ship during the long deployment also surfaced alongside the celebration. Jaylessa De La Rosa waited on the pier for her partner Omar Mora, holding their four-month-old son, and described how he left when she was 10 weeks pregnant and missed the birth. She said she watched reports about a fire that started in the laundry room and spread into berthing areas, and that she also heard about issues with the sewage system that caused toilets to shut down at times.
In Congress, Sen. Mark Warner said he believed the Ford should not have been kept in the Middle East. NPR reported Warner cited concerns including an earlier March fire, and he said he planned to meet with families in Norfolk in the coming weeks. He added, “That is not treating our military with the respect they deserve,” and said he was “going to be very curious to see how many of these professionals we lose because of the extended time on this deployment.”
Looking ahead, NPR reported that the carrier will go into maintenance at Norfolk Naval Shipyard after the homecoming, while Navy officials said sailors will be eased into routines. The ship’s long tour and the return process, NPR reported, placed the emphasis on reconnecting and reintegrating—whether for sailors returning to children and partners they have missed, or for families recalibrating from life aboard a ship at sea to ordinary life at home.