Readying for the worst: Pandemic’s long deployments take a hard toll on crews, families and ships Geoff Ziezulewicz
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt last year. (Navy) As the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and its thousands of sailors got ready for another deployment this fall, one officer was worried. Ike broke records earlier in 2020 by deploying for 206 consecutive days at sea, a dubious distinction of a cruise made longer and crappier by the need to keep the crew COVID-19-free, eliminating the port calls that serve as pressure release valves for hard-working shipmates during deployments. The carrier got back to Norfolk in August and will soon ship out again.