F/A-18E Super Hornets rest on the flight deck as the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz pulls into Naval Base Guam, April 18, 2025. (Hannah Kantner/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, arrived in Guam on Friday, possibly marking its final visit to the island as the ship continues what is expected to be its last Pacific deployment.
The Nimitz and its escorts — the guided-missile destroyers USS Gridley and USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee — pulled into Apra Harbor for the strike group’s first port call since departing San Diego on March 24, said strike group spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Pietrack.
The ships will resupply and the crew will conduct maintenance and “take time to rest and recharge,” he told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.
Pietrack declined to comment on the length of the stay, citing security concerns.
While the Navy has not officially confirmed this as the Nimitz’ final deployment, the ship’s nuclear reactors are scheduled to begin deactivation next spring when the vessel relocates to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. That process, expected to conclude by 2027, marks an early step toward the carrier’s decommissioning and eventual disposal.
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz pulls into Naval Base Guam for a scheduled port visit, April 18, 2025. (Hannah Kantner/U.S. Navy)
“Until the decommissioning, Nimitz remains ready to sail where we are needed, when we are needed, in support of our nation’s tasking,” Pietrack wrote.
Commissioned in 1975, the 50-year-old Nimitz is set to be replaced by the Gerald R. Ford-class USS John F. Kennedy, which is expected to be commissioned later this year.
During this deployment, the carrier has primarily operated at sea, conducting flight sorties, live-fire exercises, a change-of-command ceremony, and multiple replenishments-at-sea, according to photos published by the Navy.
Rear Adm. Maximilian Clark, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, highlighted Guam’s strategic importance during the visit.
“It’s always an honor to return to Guam — where our service members are welcomed like family, and where our presence truly matters,” he said in the release. “The Nimitz Strike Group is proud to be in Guam — America’s critical terrain and gateway to maintaining stability in the region.”
Guam is home to three major U.S. military installations: Naval Base Guam, Andersen Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Guam’s strategic role during a visit to Andersen on March 27, referring to the island as the “tip of the spear” – a phrase the Pentagon often uses to emphasize the U.S. territory’s position as a key logistics and power projection hub in the Indo-Pacific.
“You’re living in history; you’re living in reality, and you’re living in a dangerous neighborhood,” Hegseth told service members, according to a Defense Department release. “You are America’s power projection and platform.”
