NORFOLK, Va. — After years of technical setbacks, cost overruns and delays, finally, USS Gerald R. Ford shipped out of Naval Station Norfolk on Tuesday on its first major warfighting overseas deployment.
Last October and November, Ford took part in a two-month "service-detained" deployment to the North Atlantic and participated in exercises with NATO partners. But this time, it is going with a full carrier strike group and air wing.
This time, the Navy says, the Ford is heading out to Naval Force Europe-Africa/Sixth fleet.
The departure came long after construction began at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2009, and long after the ship was commissioned in 2017.
The $13 billion first-in-its-class aircraft carrier faced numerous challenges related to 23 new advanced onboard technological systems, most recently, overcoming malfunctioning weapons elevators.
But, that's all in the past now.
"And this deployment is an exciting opportunity to the U.S. Navy to demonstrate Ford's capabilities to the world," said Rear Admiral Greg Huffman, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 12.
"The ship and the crew are ready, prepared and excited to go get it done. We are ready to go," said Captain Rich Burgess, USS Gerald R. Ford Commanding Officer.
The Ford is the first aircraft carrier to have the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear. Such equipment is designed to improve the ship's aircraft sortie generation numbers over those of legacy Nimitz Class aircraft carriers.
At Pier 11, for the families, the goodbyes weren't easy.
Navy Mom Roxanne Huffstetler when asked what it was like to see her sailor daughter shipping out, said: "Proud, super proud. But I'm also super nervous. This is my daughter's first deployment. And so she is 22. And I'm proud yet, nervous."
Navy Wife Zojey Pena agreed that watching the ship steam away was difficult.
"This is my first deployment. So it's very sad. It's heartbreaking," she said.
The Navy declined to say how long this deployment will last. When the USS George H.W. Bush recently returned from deployment, it lasted more than eight months.
Other Norfolk-based ships heading out with the Ford on Tuesday included USS Normandy USS Ramage and USS McFaul.