Washington– The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, will return home after a flight Post setting records For more than 300 days included participating in The war against Iran and Arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas MaduroTwo American officials said Wednesday.
Ford will depart the Middle East in the coming days and return to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported this development earlier.
The arrival of the USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier in the region last week means the deployment of three US aircraft carriers to the Middle East — a number not seen since 2003 — during a fragile ceasefire in the Iran war. The USS Abraham Lincoln was also in the area Since January with escalating tensions with Tehran.
This month, a Ford broke the U.S. record for the longest post-Vietnam deployment, extending nearly 10 months after leaving the naval base in Norfolk in June.
The ship’s 295th day at sea surpassed the longest previous deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when Lincoln was deployed 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.
Ford’s lengthy deployment has raised questions about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods, as well as the increasing strain on the ship and its equipment, as the carrier has already suffered a fire that forced it to undergo lengthy repairs.
Asked about Ford’s extended deployment at a hearing Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he had consulted with the Navy and that those officials had already mentioned readiness and maintenance trade-offs.
“Many times operational requirements — whether in Southern Command or Central Command — required additional real-time assets, which through difficult decision-making led to an extension,” Hegseth said, referring to U.S. Southern Command, which oversees Latin America, and U.S. Central Command in the Middle East.
Ford began its spread by heading to the Mediterranean. It was then It was redirected to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the region’s largest maritime crowd in generations.
The tanker participated Military operation To arrest Maduro. And then we will see more battle, Heading towards the Middle East With escalating tensions with Iran.
The carrier participated in the opening days Iran war From the Mediterranean Sea before passing through the Suez Canal and heading to the Red Sea in early March.
However, a fire in one of her washing spaces forced the tanker to return to the Mediterranean for repairs, leaving hundreds of sailors without sleeping places.
Ford’s 295-day deployment falls short of the longest deployment during the Cold War, a record held by the now-decommissioned USS Midway. It was deployed for 332 days in 1972 and 1973.
Most recently, the USS Nimitz crew was on duty and away from home for a total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021. However, this included extended isolation periods at the beach in the US aimed at helping prevent the spread of Covid-19.