NORFOLK, Va. — After more than eight months away, the Navy's USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is coming home to Norfolk.
A spokesperson for the Navy has confirmed that the strike group will be returning next week. They left on May 2 of last year.
While they were deployed the strike group "participated in numerous multinational exercises, increasing NATO capability. The flagship visited ports in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Norway and Türkiye."
The U.S. Sixth Fleet announced last week that the Ford had transited the Strait of Gibraltar, exited the Mediterranean Sea and entered the Atlantic Ocean for the voyage home.
"There will be many more deployments for the Ford over its decades-long life. But I know a number of people are going to be very glad who've been away from their families for holidays. They're going to be glad to be getting back home." said US Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia).
The Sixth Fleet also announced that guided missile cruiser USS Normandy had also passed through the strait on Friday.
A third Ford Carrier Strike Group ship — the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul — returned to Naval Station Norfolk last week.
The group's deployment was extended twice by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.
Even with the group's departure, the U.S. maintains a robust military presence in the region.
"This includes the current deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East, the deployment of additional cruisers and destroyers in the Mediterranean and Middle East, and the recent arrival of the USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea," said Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, during a press conference on Thursday.
A fourth Ford Strike Group ship — the guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage — returned to Naval Station Norfolk on December 3.