Chief Petty Officer Alexander “Wildboy” Chandler and his family pose for a photo at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, after his return from a six-month deployment on Dec. 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
The men and women that keep Navy fighters, tiltrotors and helicopters flying from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington returned home Thursday after six months at sea.
The engine mechanics, ordnance technicians, clerks and other personnel of Carrier Air Wing 5 arrived in waves aboard several aircraft at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, the wing’s home base when not deployed.
The George Washington returned the same day to its pier at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, nearly 450 miles to the northeast.
Friends and families of service members celebrate the return of Carrier Air Wing 5 to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
Service members from the Airborne Command and Control Squadron wait with treats for members of their unit returning to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, after a six-month deployment Dec. 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
Lt. Cmdr. Frank “Philly” Goldstein, of Strike Fighter Squadron 102, has a quiet moment after his return from a deployment with Carrier Air Wing 5. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
During its deployment the carrier and its escorts operated throughout the Western Pacific, worked alongside military forces from Japan, Australia, South Korea and other countries, and made port calls in the Philippines, Guam and South Korea, according to carrier strike group spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Spencer Marion.
Approximately 65 families, friends and coworkers waited at a hangar with homemade signs, and tables laden with food — pizza, tacos and 7-Eleven snacks — for the returning service members.
The first contingent arrived around 4 p.m., the last wasn’t expected for another four hours.
Many of the pilots and aircraft from the wing’s flying squadrons, ranging from F/A-18 Super Hornets, F-35C Lightning IIs, Sea Hawk helicopters and CMV-22B Ospreys, had already returned to the air base.
