Two destroyer crews are set to return to the embrace of family and friends in Norfolk Saturday after 8-month deployments overseas.
The Forrest Sherman and the Winston S. Churchill departed from Naval Station Norfolk on March 9 with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and have participated in Operation Inherent Resolve missions against the so-called Islamic State group militants.
Forrest Sherman participated in maritime interdiction operations in the Gulf of Aden, an unsettled region between Somalia and Yemen that has been a hotbed for piracy, terrorism and migrants who are fleeting them. The destroyer also sailed into the Persian Arabian Gulf and supported strike missions as part of the TR CSG. The ship visited ports from City of La Spezia, Italy to EilatEliat, Israel and Port of Salalah, Oman.
The family of the late British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill posed for a photo in the chief's mess on March 25, while the ship was in Portsmouth, England.
Photo Credit: MC2 Danica M. Sirmans/Navy