USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) tied up at Pier 11 at Naval Station Norfolk on the morning of May 16 after 326 days at sea, completing one of the longest deployments by a U.S. warship since the Vietnam War. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth waited pierside with a rare commendation for the entire strike group, the Presidential Unit Citation — the first PUC of the Iran War and a decoration the Navy doesn't hand out lightly.
Rear Adm. Gavin Duff, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, told the crowd that 80 sailors held newborn children for the first time this morning. That number alone reveals what this deployment cost the families who made it possible. The deployment was initially planned for 7 months but stretched to 11 months because no relief was available. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle acknowledged at the pier, "We thought it would be a seven-month deployment." It wasn't.
The Ford strike group operated in three combatant commands. Carrier Air Wing 8 ran more than 11,800 launches and recoveries. Between February 28 and May 1, the strike group flew over 1,700 sorties into operations against Iran as part of the combined U.S.-Israeli campaign, while absorbing persistent threat from enemy missiles and attack drones. The same crew earlier ran operations in the Caribbean, supported the special operations raid in January that extracted Nicolás Maduro from Caracas, then reversed course across the Atlantic to relieve the Lincoln and Bush strike groups in the Red Sea.
This deployment stands as the most operationally active carrier deployment in a generation. But the extended duration reflects the U.S. Navy's shipbuilding crisis. The Navy is fielding roughly 295 battle-force ships against a PLA Navy that now numbers north of 370 and growing. Of America's 11 nominal carriers, only a handful are deployable on any given day; the rest are in maintenance or modernization. The Ford held the line because nothing else was ready to relieve her.
The Ford's deployment was not without challenges. She spent part of her deployment pierside in Souda Bay after a laundry fire in March injured 3 sailors, displaced 600 from berthing, and charred several compartments. Toilets overflowed and flooded compartments at multiple points during the cruise. HII Newport News, the only yard on Earth that can build a Ford-class carrier, has had the next carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) under construction for 17 years. Virginia-class submarine production is stuck at about 1.2 boats a year against a 2.0 requirement.
Key Takeaways:
1. USS Gerald R. Ford completed a 326-day deployment, one of the longest by a U.S. warship since the Vietnam War.
2. Carrier Strike Group 12 operated in three combatant commands, conducting over 11,800 launches and recoveries and 1,700 sorties.
3. A seven-month deployment stretched to eleven months due to fleet shortage, with 80 sailors becoming fathers during the deployment.
4. The U.S. Navy fields roughly 295 battle-force ships against a PLA Navy now exceeding 370; most of 11 carriers are in maintenance.
5. HII Newport News, the only yard capable of building Ford-class carriers, has had USS John F. Kennedy under construction for 17 years.
6. Virginia-class submarine production is stuck at 1.2 boats per year against a 2.0 requirement.
