Carl Vinson Makes Final Port Call

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Travis Alston, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- The Sailors of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, May 27 for the final port call of the CSG's deployment to U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation.

During the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group's nine and a half month deployment to the Western Pacific and U.S. Central Command areas of operation, they supported strike operations in Iraq and Syria, CVW 17 successfully flew 12,300 sorties, including 2,382 combat missions and dropped more than a half a million pounds of ordnance in the fight against ISIS.

"This group of Sailors has endured the longest scheduled deployment of the modern U.S. Navy," said Capt. Karl Thomas, Carl Vinson commanding officer. "I couldn't have asked for a more motivated and professional team."

"This is our last port visit before we return to our homeport of San Diego in a few days. The crew has answered all bells and our nation's call to duty; now it's time to focus on getting back home to our families."

When the port call concludes, Carl Vinson will depart with more than 1200 "Tigers," friends and family members of Sailors who will have the opportunity to transit to San Diego and experience a small taste of their Sailor's day-to-day life underway. Events planned for this year's Tiger Cruise include ship tours, gun shoots and an air and sea power demonstration.

The Carl Vinson CSG consists of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Destroyer Squadron 1 with the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) and the guided-missile destroyers USS Gridley (DDG 101), USS Sterett (DDG 104), and USS Dewey (DDG 105) along with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 squadrons.

U.S. 3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Eastern Pacific from the West Coast of North America to the international date line and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy.