USS Gerald R. Ford Returns Home After Record 11-Month Deployment

Carrier Strike Group 12 received the Presidential Unit Citation after operations in the Caribbean and Middle East during a 326-day mission.

Juan Caceres kisses Heidi Eckstein after disembarking aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va., on May 16, 2026. Mike Kropf/Getty Images

The USS Gerald R. Ford returned to Virginia on May 16 after an 11-month deployment, the longest for a U.S. aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War, bringing home thousands of sailors after operations in the Caribbean and the Middle East.

The most advanced U.S. warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June 2025. The destroyer USS Bainbridge and the USS Mahan also returned.