The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group received the Presidential Unit Citation on Saturday as the ship returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, closing out a 326-day deployment that the Navy said was the longest since the Vietnam War. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth read from the citation on the pier as roughly five thousand sailors came home with the carrier.
The award recognized extraordinary acts of heroism during support of Operation Epic Fury, and the citation credited the strike group with sustained combat operations in highly contested seas. Hegseth said the personnel of Carrier Strike Group Twelve distinguished themselves through outstanding warfighting prosecution against a determined enemy, and said the USS Gerald R. Ford, Carrier Air Wing Eight, Destroyer Squadron Two and USS Winston S. Churchill carried out continuous flight operations and maritime strike missions with precise effects against enemy targets. He added that their courage, aggressive fighting spirit and devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Navy.
The homecoming marked the end of an 11-month deployment that took the carrier more than 57,713 nautical miles from home and included 23 replenishments at sea. Embarked Carrier Air Wing 8 logged more than 5,760 flight hours and 12,200 flight launches. During the deployment, the strike group participated in Operation Southern Spear and Operation Absolute Resolve in the Caribbean Sea, while also moving through the Middle East under threat from drone warfare and missiles.
The citation pointed to several specific contributions that helped shape the campaign. The Maritime Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Cell helped target 125 Iranian warships. The Launch Area Coordinator assisted in the launch of 207 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes from nine surface combatants. Task Force 58 flew upward of 1,700 combat air sorties from the Mediterranean and Red Sea and launched strikes against 700 targets.
The return also underscored how hard the deployment had been on the crew. Sailors had been away from home since the summer of 2025, and the ship’s time at sea stretched beyond its original projected return window. The voyage included two separate armed conflicts, a serious onboard fire and persistent problems with the sewage system. After the Ford’s arrival, the Navy said it will carry out maintenance and crew rest periods before it assesses future deployment readiness.
The Presidential Unit Citation is the military’s highest unit-level decoration, and this one made clear why the Ford’s voyage drew it: the ship and its strike group were kept in the fight for nearly a year, then brought home with a record of combat activity that matched the scale of the mission. The question now is not whether the deployment mattered. It is how quickly the Navy can put the carrier back in service after such an exhausting run.
