The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is back at Naval Station Norfolk — wrapping up 275 days at sea, most of it spent in the Middle East.
While underway, the carrier and its strike group shot down a barrage of Iran-backed Houthi drones and missiles on a regular basis, as part of what officials say is the Navy’s most kinetic conflict since World War II.
“Many have described our deployment as unprecedented, but I would argue that every day for the last nine months, I’ve observed the consistent, relentless professionalism of the men and women aboard Ike, from launching and recovering aircraft to responding to engineering causalities and feeding the ship’s crew of 4,000 people,” Capt. Chris Hill, the commanding officer of the Eisenhower, said in a Navy news release. “It is that resiliency and tenacity that makes Ike the best.”
“It is truly humbling and awe-inspiring,” Hill said. “Their service and hard work made this deployment a safe and successful operation. I couldn’t be more proud or more honored to serve alongside every one of them.”
The carrier and its strike group oversaw Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S. and international mission that launched in December to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, in response to Houthi attacks on shipping.
The Eisenhower originally got underway in October, and entered the 5th Fleet area of operations in November — marking the first time a carrier operated in those Middle Eastern waters since the end of the Afghanistan war in 2021.
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The Pentagon issued multiple extensions for the carrier’s deployment, which totaled nine months at sea — up from the standard seven. In June, the carrier transited the Suez Canal as it started its trek home.
The Ike’s carrier strike group includes Carrier Air Wing 3, which conducted 13,800 sorties, and destroyers Gravely and Mason, as well as the cruiser Philippine Sea.
“Before the start of deployment I did not think that we would be able to put our training to the test to this extent,” Ensign Luke Baca, a first-tour division officer, said in a Navy news release. “Knowing that my division and I performed at the highest levels brings me great joy and pride.”
For their actions in the Middle East, the crew of the Ike received the Combat Action Ribbon, or CAR. The award — one that has rarely been distributed since the 1991 Gulf War — is for sailors and Marines who actively participated in ground or surface action.
The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is replacing the Ike, and arrived in the Middle East on Friday “to deter aggression, promote regional stability, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” according to U.S. Central Command.
