The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) returned to Naval Station Norfolk on Jan. 17, 2024 after an 8.5 month deployment. Ford is the flagship carrier of Carrier Strike Group 12 and deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations. Delays kept the ship from its original return date by over 70 days.
The nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing, or CVW, 8 are scheduled to return to Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and Naval Air Station Jacksonville from Jan. 14-16.