(Times of San Diego) The Vinson Strike Group returns to San Diego Friday after a four-month deployment.
The regularly scheduled deployment, according to the Navy, was in “support of global maritime security operations and a forward U.S. Naval presence wherever and whenever needed.”
As part of the mission, the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) traveled to the South Korean city of Busan in November, to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile ambitions.
The nuclear-powered warship’s arrival coincided with North Korea’s launch of a rocket carrying a space satellite, the third such attempt by the country to put a satellite into orbit.
The strike group’s deployment to the U.S. 3rd and 7th Fleets – which serve the Indo-Pacific Region – included operations alongside multiple partners, allies and the U.S. Joint Force. It will return to Naval Air Station North Island.
Six thousand sailors make up the crews of the ships and aircraft of the strike group, which includes the Vinson, nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 1 and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59).
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images