USS George Washington to arrive in Norfolk

USS George Washington to arrive in Norfolk

Staff, 13News Now 12:26 p.m. EST December 11, 2015

NORFOLK, Va. — The aircraft carrier USS George Washington will arrive in Norfolk on Dec 17 following its forward deployment in Japan.

USS George Washington’s arrival to Norfolk is part of a three-carrier swap with USS Ronald Reagan and USS Theodore Roosevelt.

After serving seven years as the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan, George Washington proceeded to San Diego for a 10-day crew swap turnover with Ronald Reagan in August 2015. Washington then sailed around South America, participating in Southern Seas 2015 and UNITAS 2015. The carrier will finally pull into NS Norfolk and prepare to conduct a mid-life Refueling Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding.

USS George Washington leaves Japan bound for Newport News

With nearly 4,500 sailors, Carrier Strike Group 9 is comprised of flagship George Washington with embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 2, CSG 9 staff, Destroyer Squadron 23 staff, and was joined during the Southern Seas 2015 deployment by USS Chafee, USS McFaul, USNS Big Horn, and USNS Guadalupe.

Chafee is returning to her home port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and McFaul is returning to her homeport at NS Mayport, Florida.

The squadrons of west coast-based CVW-2 embarked as part of CSG 9 include the “Bounty Hunters” of Strike Fighter Squadron 2, the Virginia Beach-based “Blue Blasters” of VFA-34, the “Kestrels” of VFA-137, the “Golden Dragons” of VFA-192, the “Gauntlets” of Electronic Attack Squadron 136, the “Black Eagles” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113, the “Blue Hawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 78, the “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 4 and the “Providers” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30.