USNS Kanawha returns to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on May 16, 2026, after a 204-day deployment, which included 156 days actively at sea. (LaShawn Sykes/Military Sealift Command)
This report has been updated.
Fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha will receive the military’s top award for valor by a unit in battle, for supporting the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group during Operation Epic Fury, Military Sealift Command announced Friday.
It will be the first Presidential Unit Citation awarded to an MSC ship in the command’s 77-year history.
The award had been scheduled to be presented July 2 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., but a subsequent message from Military Sealift Command Atlantic said the event has been postponed.
“The ceremony will be rescheduled to a new date in mid-July,” the statement said. Updates will be provided as soon as details are confirmed.
In addition to the unit award, 19 civil service mariners will receive individual honors for their performance throughout Kanawha’s recent seven-month deployment.
This will be the fourth to receive the Presidential Unit Citation this year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was part of the USS Gerald R. Ford welcoming committee in May, presented the citation to the Ford Carrier Group.
Also in May, the 66th Rescue Squadron and the 58th Rescue Squadron were awarded the military’s highest unit award.
Kanawha, a Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler, returned to Norfolk on May 16 after a 204-day deployment.
Operating in the U.S. 4th, 5th and 6th Fleets, the crew delivered more than 17.6 million gallons of fuel and 3,103 pallets of supplies, and it performed 113 replenishments for 29 U.S. and coalition vessels.
The ship helped sustain two key missions: Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s name for the campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America, and Operation Epic Fury.
USNS Kanawha returns to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on May 16, 2026, after a 204-day deployment, which included 156 days actively at sea. (LaShawn Sykes/Military Sealift Command)
Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Aidan Carter, assigned to Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan, signals to Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha in the Mediterranean Sea on April 7, 2026. (Rylin Paul/U.S. Navy)
