USS Ronald Reagan set to leave shipyard and return to operational status

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will emerge from a 17-month servicing and repair period by the end of the month, the Navy said Monday.

“The docking planned incremental availability for USS Ronald Reagan is on track for its scheduled completion at the end of August 2026,” said Catherine Norton, public affairs officer for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

The shipyard is at Naval Base Kitsap on Puget Sound, Wash., west of Seattle. Kitsap is Reagan’s homeport.

After a planned incremental availability, or PIA, carriers normally go through a return-to-operational status period that includes undocking the ship and sending it out on sea trials to ensure all repairs and new equipment are working properly. Following additional training for ship’s crew and air wing, the carrier is placed back in the fleet deployment cycle.

The Navy declined to say when Reagan might next be deployed.

“It is U.S. Navy policy not to discuss future operations or movements due to operations security,” said Lt. j.g. Alexis Van Buren, a public affairs officer with the Commander, Naval Air Forces.

The return of Reagan will give Navy commanders another option for carrier deployment.

Currently, USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush are deployed to the Indian Ocean near the conflict area with Iran. USS George Washington, the Navy’s forward deployed carrier homeported in Japan, is currently in the Pacific, recently visiting Da Nang, Vietnam.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Nimitz are at Naval Station Norfolk. USS Carl Vinson and USS Theodore Roosevelt are at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Calif.

Three carriers are undergoing maintenance or about to begin

Reagan, commissioned in July 2003, was the ninth of 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers to enter service with the Navy.

Currently, Reagan is the only carrier homeported in the Pacific Northwest. USS Nimitz departed Kitsap in early March to switch its homeport to Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia.

USS John F. Kennedy, the second Ford-class carrier, is scheduled to be commissioned in March 2027. After sea trials and crew training, it is slated to be homeported at Kitsap in 2029.

Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Terrell Williams, left, Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Aidan Kleinschmidt, center, and Gunner’s Mate Seaman Andy Jeannot conduct maintenance on a Mark 38 25-millimeter machine gun on the fantail aboard USS Ronald Reagan. (Japeth Carter/U.S. Navy)