VIRGINIA BEACH — A long, eventful deployment reached the finish line Friday as the F/A-18s from the carrier Harry S. Truman flew in formation over Virginia ӽ紫ý, as the crews’ loved ones waited eagerly near the runway.
After 8 1/2 months, Carrier Air Wing returned to Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia ӽ紫ý.
“I’m just so happy to be home,” said Capt. Leslie Mintz. “I’m so happy everyone is home and reunited with their families.”
The aircraft carrier and its strike group spent more than five months defending merchant mariners and military vessels from Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It lost three F/A-18s during that time, but no crew members.
One of the fighter jets was shot down accidentally by friendly fire. A second as the carrier made an abrupt turn while the jet was being towed. A third crashed into the Red Sea after the aircraft .
Even after the incidents encountered while deployed, Mintz said one word she would use to describe the air wing would be perseverance.
“It is a bond that will never be broken, what we have done together,” Mintz said.
Kendall Warner, kendall.warner@virginiamedia.com
