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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The world\u2019s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, broke the U.S. record Wednesday for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span that saw it take part in both the military raid in Venezuela and the Iran war.<\/p>\n
The ship\u2019s 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the USS Abraham Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n
It raises questions about the impact on service members away from home for long periods as well as increasing strain on the ship and its equipment, with the carrier already enduring a fire that forced it to undergo lengthy repairs.<\/p>\n
The Ford began its deployment in June 2025, heading to the Mediterranean See from its home port in Norfolk, Virginia. The military rerouted it to the Caribbean Sea<\/a><\/span> in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations. <\/p>\n The carrier took part in the military operation<\/a><\/span> to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East<\/a><\/span> as tensions with Iran escalated.<\/p>\n The carrier took part in the opening days of the Iran war<\/a><\/span> from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.<\/p>\n However, a fire in one of its laundry spaces forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs.<\/p>\n Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said the record-breaking deployment has taken \u201ca serious toll\u201d on the mental health and well-being of the crew. He noted that the fire temporarily left 600 sailors without places to sleep.<\/p>\n \u201cThey should be home with their loved ones, not sent around the world by a President who acts like the U.S. military is his palace guard,\u201d the Democratic senator said in a statement.<\/p>\n Pentagon officials have not said how long the Ford will stay deployed, but the Navy\u2019s two highest-ranking officers both said publicly that they expect the ship to be deployed for around 11 months. That would put the ship returning home in late May.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to see a record-breaking deployment by Ford,\u201d Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy\u2019s top officer, said during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the end of March.<\/p>\n Caudle told reporters in January that he would \u201cpush back\u201d on extending the Ford and told The Associated Press in February<\/a><\/span> that he wants to convince commanders to use smaller, newer ships in combat zones instead of consistently asking the Navy to send aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n While Navy officials have not formally said the Ford\u2019s deployment is record-breaking, they did not dispute the data compiled by U.S. Naval Institute News.<\/p>\n