NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- It's homecoming day at Naval Station Norfolk.
The crew of USNS Laramie, Military Sealift Command's Combat Logistics Force oiler, was gone for six months supporting American and allied ships in the Fifth Fleet.
The civil service mariners performed 57 at-sea-replenishments, transferring 8.9 million gallons of fuel and 2,000 pallets of critical cargo, the Navy said.
One of the biggest challenges at sea is keeping morale up among the approximately 80 crew members onboard.
"You try to keep good food on the plates and try to squeeze a couple of decent liberty ports out of the schedulers," said Captain Robert Sylvester.
The crew made stops in Bahrain, Djibouti, Duqm, Fujairah, Jebel Ali, Port Khalifa, Rota, Salalah and Souda Bay.
"It feels great to come home," said Operations Chief Mike Springer, who said this was his fourth deployment within four years. 
Laramie is a scheduled for a maintenance overhaul before deploying again later this year.
