NORFOLK, Va. — After many trials and tribulations since its commissioning back in 2017, deployment day is almost at hand for the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
The Navy's newest aircraft carrier is set to ship out on its first deployment on Monday, October 3. But it won't be a typical six-month deployment to the Fifth and Sixth Fleet areas of operation.
Instead, it will be what the Navy is calling a "service detained deployment," to the North Atlantic, for an unspecified "short" period of time.
Once there, the $13 billion Ford will conduct exercises with eight NATO alliance partner nations.
"Innovation and interoperability are the key focal points of this deployment," said Vice Admiral Daniel Dwyer, commander of the U.S. Second Fleet.
The deployment comes after several years of working out the kinks in 23 new technological systems. They include 11 advanced weapons elevators that didn't initially work.
Additionally, the Ford has advanced arresting gear and is equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system, for which the ship's crew has already performed more than 10,000 launches of airplanes off the flight deck to make sure it works.
The Ford's captain and sailors say they and their vessel are ready to go.
"We're not in test mode. We are in operating mode. And all systems are go," said Captain Paul Lanzilotta, USS Gerald R. Ford's commanding officer.
He continued: "It's a momentous milestone. But, it's just another step along the way to bringing the ship to combat readiness. And we're excited about that."
Chief-select Kera Archambeault agreed.
"Every challenge we've met, we met it head-on, so we're super excited," she said.
Boatswain's Mate Second Class Pat Schlosser added: "We're the biggest and baddest warship in the fleet, without a doubt.."
The Navy says the Ford will embark upon what it is calling its first "Global Management Deployment" at an unspecified date in 2023.
Construction began on the Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding back in 2009. It is the first in a class of four Ford-class aircraft carriers. The others will be the USS John F. Kennedy, USS Enterprise, and USS Doris Miller... all of which are in various stages of construction at Newport News, with completion for the fourth ship, the Doris Miller, set for 2032.