The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is seen from the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge during Operation Epic Fury on March 8, 2026. (U.S. Central Command)
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford could be deployed for nearly a year, the Navy’s top commanding officer said this week.
Ford likely will go into a “record-breaking” 11th month of operations, Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, said Tuesday at the Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He added that the carrier had received a much-needed reset, including time at U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Greece for repairs following a laundry room fire last month and a port call in Split, Croatia.
Ford and her crew would be “back on station again here soon,” said Caudle. He did not indicate if Ford would remain in the Mediterranean Sea or go back into the Red Sea in support of the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran, which is now in its fifth week.
Its destroyer escorts — USS Bainbridge, USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Mahan — also have left the Middle East, having made the northbound transit through the Suez Canal, USNI News reported Monday.
The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, anticipated to relieve Ford, left its homeport in Norfolk, Va., on Tuesday to begin operations for its deployment, the Navy said in a statement.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Maritime Security Dialogue in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 2026. Caudle said during the event that the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford’s deployment is likely to last 11 months. (Elliott Fabrizio/U.S. Navy)
The Pentagon has not specifically said where Bush will go, but it reportedly will head to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, which includes the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Ford, which left Norfolk in late June, is on its 281st day of operations, nearing carrier deployment records set by USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Nimitz.
In those cases, Lincoln was deployed for 295 days, returning to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on Jan. 20, 2020; Nimitz completed an 11-month deployment ending in March 2021 that included a 27-day pre-deployment quarantine due to COVID-19.
On Monday, Ford remained in Croatia, according to USNI News.
The carrier arrived at the city of Split along the Adriatic Sea on Saturday following three days at U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete for assessment and repairs after the laundry room fire on March 12.
Caudle said Ford’s lengthy deployment, which has included duty in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Red seas, would be considered “extraordinary” to people outside the Navy.
While the impacts of long deployments on sailors and their families weigh on his mind, Caudle said service members know what they signed up for.
“It’s a challenging time,” he said. “But we’re built for that. … This is what we do for a living.”
