NORFOLK, Va. - The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and two other strike group ships -- the USS Philippine Sea and USS Gravely -- returned to Naval Station Norfolk Sunday after a nine-month deployment.
Shortly after the ships docked, thousands of sailors embraced their families for the first time since last year.
“I’m super excited being back. It’s been a long deployment, a busy deployment. Glad to be back in Norfolk," said Chief Petty Officer Brian Mazi, a sailor aboard the USS Philippine Sea, a guided-missile cruiser and the first ship to arrive on Sunday.
The USS Gravely followed shortly after, with the biggest of the three — the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — arriving not long after that.
While overseas, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was critical in engaging Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Philippine Sea and Gravely were tasked with defending the strike group and also joined strikes against Houthi targets.
“Constantly being under threat of attacks on our ship and the strike group at all times. It was a heightened level of stress that we had to work through that. I think this crew did a phenomenal job," said Capt. Steven Liberty, Commanding Officer of the USS Philippine Sea and its more than 300 sailors.
Liberty said the long deployment was intense and an experience he hadn't had in 31 years in the U.S. Navy.
“We got to see this at its full capability, from air sorties to defense, integrated air and missile defense. The full suite of capabilities from our cruisers, our destroyers, our air wing," said Adm. Daryl Caudle, who, as Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, leads the Navy's Atlantic fleet.
Adm. Caudle joined the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, who was at Naval Station Norfolk to greet families and sailors on Sunday.
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