The Gun Locker

Finally….Home, Sweet, Home!

                 After a record time away from ANY land….

 ….their extraordinary mission fulfilled for Nation and Navy.

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA (August 09, 2020) – United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) returns home to Naval Station Norfolk after a regularly scheduled deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and her escorts were 7,000 miles (11,000 km) from home when on station in the Persian Gulf.

The supercarrier and her cruiser and destroyer escorts remained at sea for the entire seven-month deployment due to health concerns ashore during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and her 6,000 crew members set a new record for an American aircraft carrier remaining continuously at sea without ever coming into a port – 205 days. The old record was 160 days, set by USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 72) in 2002 during the post-September 11, 2001 radical Islamic terrorist attacks on the United States.

Not one single day inport for the entire seven-month deployment….6,000 mostly-very-young men and women….operating at sea from departure from homeport on January 17, 2020….every single day….until return to homeport, August  9, 2020.

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(I hear a lot of of “Comments” going on out there!)

(OK, I’m thinking the same thing!)

(But, getting a bit more serious again….)

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Just a whole lot of ocean for this deployment….while conducting crucial American military operations in a routinely dangerous part of the world.

And, to ensure the health of the crew, and the operational readiness of the entire carrier strike group, needing to pass-by many great ports with some of the longest history and culture in the world….stretching from Gibraltar through Spain, Italy, Greece, North Africa, Israel, Egypt, to Bahrain. All due, of course, to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) approached her home pier in Norfolk, this sign made by family members waiting for their Sailor tells the true story: “Home is the best port call, anyway!”

During her long time away from home, the carrier cruised over 60,000 miles (96,000 km) as she rode at the tip of the spear of American foreign policy in the Middle East.

But, now, for a month or more, likely, they’re “home”!

Until they begin the lengthy and complex process of preparing for their next mission across the oceans….

   USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) on station far from home….

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YIKES!!!! And, I thought my own record at-sea period of 77 days during my Navy years (1975-2005) was tough….it was puny, in comparison.

What these young Americans achieved with such professionalism is really worth a lot more appreciation than we’ll ever see in other than a few local hometown press.

It really is remarkable….and one for which all Americans can be proud of what our young men and women, some still teenagers, from every corner of the country, have done for their country.

They’ve successfully operated this great nuclear-powered warship…..with dozens of mega-million dollar fighter aircraft onboard….to the other side of the world and back….

….their extraordinary mission fulfilled for Nation and Navy.

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>>CLICK the photos for a closer look….

German Heckler & Koch USP-Tactical Pistol cal. 45ACP