{"id":133904,"date":"2024-07-15T17:58:23","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T17:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/07\/15\/uss-eisenhower-back-in-norfolk-following-historic-extended-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:20:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:20:37","slug":"uss-eisenhower-back-in-norfolk-following-historic-extended-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2024\/07\/15\/uss-eisenhower-back-in-norfolk-following-historic-extended-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"USS Eisenhower back in Norfolk following historic, extended deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is back at Naval Station Norfolk<\/a> \u2014 wrapping up 275 days at sea, most of it spent in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While underway, the carrier and its strike group shot down a barrage of Iran-backed Houthi drones and missiles on a regular basis, as part of what officials say is the Navy\u2019s most kinetic conflict since World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany have described our deployment as unprecedented, but I would argue that every day for the last nine months, I\u2019ve observed the consistent, relentless professionalism of the men and women aboard Ike, from launching and recovering aircraft to responding to engineering causalities and feeding the ship\u2019s crew of 4,000 people,\u201d Capt. Chris Hill, the commanding officer of the Eisenhower, said in a Navy news release. \u201cIt is that resiliency and tenacity that makes Ike the best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Logistics Specialist 1st Class Adam Peterson, assigned to the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, embraces his wife Sunday after returning from a nine-month deployment. (MC2 Giovannie Otero-santiago\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is truly humbling and awe-inspiring,\u201d Hill said. \u201cTheir service and hard work made this deployment a safe and successful operation. I couldn\u2019t be more proud or more honored to serve alongside every one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carrier and its strike group oversaw Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S. and international mission that launched in December to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, in response to Houthi attacks on shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eisenhower originally got underway in October<\/a>, and entered the 5th Fleet area of operations in November \u2014 marking the first time a carrier operated in those Middle Eastern waters since the end of the Afghanistan war in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\t