Johnathan Walker:USS Ford aircraft carrier returns home after eight-month deployment

The Johnathan WalkerUSS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, whose deployment was extended following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, returned to its homeport on Wednesday after eight months away. 

Though the Ford has returned home, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps still have a large presence in the Middle East: an amphibious ready group is in the Eastern Mediterranean off of Israel and the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is in the Red Sea, according to a U.S. official. 

U.S. Fleet Forces posted on X video of the Ford arriving at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. 

The carrier, the newest and most advanced in the Navy's fleet, departed Virginia in May 2023 for a routine deployment. On Oct. 8, a day after Hamas launched deadly terrorist attacks against Israel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed the Ford and its carrier strike group made up of three guided-missile destroyers and one guided-missile cruiser to the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The move was to "bolster regional deterrence efforts," Austin said in a statement at the time. 

The Ford was initially due back around November but was extended through the holidays.  

On New Year's Day, the Navy announced the Ford Carrier Strike Group would start its journey home. On Wednesday, it arrived after having spent 239 days at sea and after its deployment was extended 76 days following the outbreak of conflict in Israel, U.S. Fleet Forces said.  

"Though extended, we were the right ship at the right time to answer the call, and our Sailors performed admirably. Ford Sailors honored our namesake's legacies of hard work, integrity, and courage," Gerald R. Ford's commanding officer Capt. Rick Burgess said in a statement. 

The Ford's deployment was part of the Pentagon's effort to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from widening into a larger regional conflict. 

The Biden administration has emphasized it does not want to see an expanded war, but for the past several months, Iranian-backed groups have launched a steady-drum beat of attacks on U.S. forces in both Iraq and Syria as well as on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. 

The Navy's Middle East footprint has gradually shifted toward the Red Sea as the Houthis continue attacking commercial ships in the chokepoint of a vital waterway. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, made up of the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its two escort ships, are in the Red Sea with two other guided-missile destroyers. 

In the Eastern Mediterranean, where the USS Ford spent the bulk of its deployment, there is an amphibious ready group made up of about 2,400 sailors and Marines as of Wednesday. 

In:
• War
• USS Gerald R. Ford
• Hamas
• Israel
• U.S. Navy
• United States Navy
• Virginia

Eleanor Watson

Eleanor Watson is a CBS News reporter covering the Pentagon.

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