The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group received the Presidential Unit Citation on Saturday as the carrier returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, after 326 days at sea. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth read from the citation as he presented the award to returning sailors on the pier.
The deployment lasted 11 months and was described as the longest since the Vietnam War. The official citation said Carrier Strike Group Twelve distinguished itself through outstanding warfighting prosecution while engaged in sustained combat operations against a determined enemy, with the USS Gerald R. Ford, Carrier Air Wing Eight, Destroyer Squadron Two and USS Winston S. Churchill carrying out continuous flight operations and maritime strike missions.
The group’s record was built across a long run of operations in two theaters. It took part in Operation Epic Fury, along with Operation Southern Spear and Operation Absolute Resolve in the Caribbean Sea, while also operating in highly contested waters in the Middle East where drone warfare and missile attacks remained a constant threat. Over the course of the deployment, the crew completed 23 replenishments at sea, sailed more than 57,713 nautical miles and watched Carrier Air Wing 8 log more than 5,760 flight hours and 12,200 flight launches.
The citation also pointed to the strike group’s broader targeting role. The Maritime Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Cell helped the force target 125 Iranian warships, while the Launch Area Coordinator assisted in the launch of 207 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes from nine surface combatants. Task Force 58 flew upwards of 1,700 combat air sorties from the Mediterranean and Red Sea and struck 700 targets, underscoring how heavily the deployment leaned on the carrier as a mobile command center in active combat conditions.
That combat record came with strain. A separate account of the homecoming said sailors had been away from home since the summer of 2025, that the ship took part in two separate armed conflicts and that the deployment included a serious onboard fire and persistent problems with the vessel’s sewage system. It also said the ship remained operational through the fire and that the Navy planned maintenance and crew-rest periods before assessing future readiness.
For the Navy, the award marks more than a ceremonial finish to a long voyage. The Ford is the lead ship of the service’s newest and most advanced carrier class, and the citation now places its first major combat deployment among the most demanding the fleet has seen in decades. The question now is not whether the strike group performed under pressure. The record, from Norfolk to the Mediterranean and Red Sea, already answers that.
