The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (CSG-9) returned to homeport San Diego after completing a 7-month deployment to the Pacific Ocean and Persian Gulf on Monday.
The Roosevelt CSG spent about four months in the 5th Fleet area of operation, conducting missions against ISIS targets, performing maritime security operations, and operating with ships from the French and Australian navies, according to the Navy.
While sailing in the 7th Fleet area of operation, the Roosevelt CSG participated in several exercises, including a November three-carrier joint operation off the coast of Korea. USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and USS Nimitz (CVN-68), along with their escorts and air wings, conducted four days of exercises in the Japan Sea.
The Roosevelt CSG left San Diego in October. This was the first deployment for carrier Theodore Roosevelt since moving to its new homeport of San Diego, after completing a first-ever three-carrier hull swap and around-the-world 2015 deployment. Theodore Roosevelt had previously been home ported in Norfolk, Va. Also, as part of homeport shift, Ronald Reagan moved to Yokosuka, Japan, as the Forward Deployed Naval Force carrier, and USS George Washington (CVN-73) began a four-year mid-life refueling and complex overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
The Roosevelt CSG includes about 7,500 sailors and Marines aboard Theodore Roosevelt, guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), and guided missile destroyers USS Halsey (DDG-97), USS Preble (DDG-88), and USS Sampson (DDG-102) which is operating outside the Persian Gulf, but still part of CSG, according to the Navy.
The CSG also includes Carrier Air Wing 17 and nine squadrons and detachments: the “Stingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 113, the “Mighty Shrikes” of VFA-94 and the “Redcocks” of VFA-22, all based at Lemoore Naval Air Station, Calif.; the “Checkerboards” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312 from Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station, S.C.; the “Cougars” of Electronic Attack Squadron 139 from Whidbey Island, Wash.; the “Sun Kings” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 116 from Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif.; and the “Providers” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30, the “Indians” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6, and the “Battlecats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 73, all based at North Island, according to the Navy.
