Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group of the U.S. Navy returns from deployment

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) carrier strike group returned home to Norfolk Naval Station Aug. 9 after seven months operating in 5th and 6th Fleet, the U.S. Navy announced.

Returning ships include the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (IKE) (CVN 69) and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56). More than 1,800 Navy aviators from nine squadrons from Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW) 3 returned August 6-7 to their home bases in Naval Air Station Oceana, Norfolk Naval Station, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, and Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida.

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) and USS Truxtun (DDG 103) are scheduled to return to Norfolk Aug. 10. USS Stout (DDG 55) remains on deployment and will return to Norfolk at a future date.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG) ships departed Norfolk, Va., Jan. 17, for the strike group’s Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) and follow-on deployment.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, IKECSG continued operations to maintain maritime stability and security and ensure access, deter aggression, and defend U.S., allied and partner interests.

Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW) 3 supported Central Command with 166 sorties and 1,135 flight hours in support Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, and 112 sorties and 492 flight hours in support of Strait of Hormuz transits and Deliberate Presence Patrols. During deployment, CVW-3 completed 10,466 rotary and fixed wing sorties, 7,751 traps with more than 21,995 mishap-free flight hours.

IKECSG ships each sailed more than 60,000 nautical miles, operating dynamically through multiple exercises with allies and partners and dual-carriers operations with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The ships completed multiple strait and choke point transits, including the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Bab el Mandeb.

Demonstrating resiliency and self-sufficiency, Sailors from across the strike group and air wing made several complex repairs to vital equipment and systems, correcting more than 500 category 3 and 4 CASREPs, that would normally be conducted at depot level, or require onboard technical assist visits.

Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group includes the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), commanded by Capt. Kyle Higgins; Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56), commanded by Capt. Edward Crossman, and USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), commanded by Capt. Michael Desmond; Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Stout (DDG 55), USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), and USS Truxtun (DDG 103); and the staffs of Carrier Strike Group 10 commanded by Rear Adm. Brendan McLane and Destroyer Squadron 26 commanded by Capt. Zoah Scheneman.

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