SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group returned to San Diego Monday, marking the end of an eight-month deployment to U.S. 3rd and 7th Fleets areas of operation, the Navy reported.
The strike group steamed to the Hawaiian Islands operating area with the U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard as part of the Defense Department's ongoing presence in the Indo-Pacific region. They continued into the western Pacific.
"The tireless dedication and professionalism of our sailors, through a global pandemic, challenging operational tempo, and sacrificed time away from family, is truly humbling," said Capt. P. Scott Miller, commanding officer of the USS Carl Vinson, the strike group's flagship.
"Their efforts have demonstrated flexibility and resiliency and ensured mission success in every task. They have directly supported a free and open Indo-Pacific and have underscored our Navy's readiness, strength and lethality."
Ships in the Carl Vinson CSG sailed more than 80,000 nautical miles while underway for 262 days and "conducted dual carrier operations and multinational exercises, including maritime security operations, integrated training between surface and air units, long-range maritime strike, anti-submarine warfare, information warfare operations, maritime interdiction operations, personnel recovery, air defense operations, multiple ship navigation and formation maneuvering and refueling-at-sea operations," a statement from the Navy read.
While deployed, the strike group operated in the Indo-Pacific, including the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea.
The Carl Vinson was the first aircraft carrier to deploy with a combined complement of F-35C Lightning IIs, CMV-22B Ospreys, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, MH-60R and MH-60S Sea Hawks.
During the deployment, the air wing clocked more than 15,000 fixed-wing and helicopter flight hours comprising of 7,791 sorties, 7,702 launches and 7,761 aircraft arrestments.
The strike group successfully completed operations and exercises alongside multiple partners and allies including navies from Australia, Canada, Germany, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as well as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
"Alongside our partners and allies, we have aggressively pursued every opportunity to elevate our combat readiness in a drive to continue upholding regional stability," said Rear Adm. Dan Martin, commander, Carrier Strike Group 1.
"We've been doing this for 75 years and I'm proud to say that our team has relentlessly paid tribute to this legacy with many long hours of sweat and determination that started well before we left San Diego."
The Carl Vinson CSG consists of Carl Vinson, embarked staffs of CSG 1, Carrier Air Wing 2 and Destroyer Squadron 1, nine embarked air wing squadrons, guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain and guided-missile destroyers USS Chafee, USS O'Kane, USS Stockdale and USS Michael Murphy.
