Last Carrier Strike Group Returns Home

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Last Carrier Strike Group Returns Home
From Combat Operations

By Commander, 3rd Fleet Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The last Carrier Strike Group (CSG)
from the combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom is returning
home. The Nimitz CSG is scheduled to return to its homeport of
San Diego Nov. 5, following a highly successful eight-month
deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), guided-missile cruiser
USS Princeton (CG 59) and combat support ship USS Bridge
(AOE 10) will first make a brief port call in Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, Oct. 27, before getting underway for their final leg home
Oct. 31.

The first ship from the Nimitz CSG to return home will be the
Pearl Harbor-based Aegis cruiser, USS Chosin (CG 65),
arriving Naval Station Peal Harbor Nov. 2.

As Nimitz approaches the Southern California coast Nov. 4,
Carrier Air Wing 11 squadrons will be next to make
homecomings, as they conduct a "fly off" of more than 70
aircraft from the aircraft carrier. The aircrews and aircraft will fly
into the following four homeports: Naval Air Station North
Island, Calif.; Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.; Naval Base
Ventura County Point Mugu, Calif.; Naval Air Station Whidbey
Island, Wash.

The following day, Nov. 5, Nimitz will pull into San Diego Bay
and moor at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.

During the ship's deployment, Nimitz flew more than 6,500
missions in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In
addition, this was the first deployment of the F/A-18F Super
Hornet (two-seat version) and E-2C Hawkeye 2000. Nimitz is
also the first aircraft carrier to deploy with two Super Hornet
squadrons. This was Nimitz's first deployment since their major
overhaul in 1997 and its first since relocating to San Diego in
2001.

Princeton will also return to her homeport Nov. 5 at Naval
Station San Diego. During her deployment, Princeton escorted
Nimitz while performing duties as Arabian Gulf Air Defense
Commander and Tactical Data Coordinator. Princeton also
spent several weeks as the Northern Arabian Gulf Maritime
Intercept Commander, directing a coalition of naval forces
providing security throughout Iraqi territorial waterways.

Also returning to San Diego is the Nimitz Strike Group's Sea
Combat Commander, Destroyer Squadron (CDS) 23, the
famed squadron of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm.
Arleigh Burke during World War II. Throughout the deployment,
the staff coordinated defense of the Strike Group against surface
and sub-surface threats. They also served as Escort Coordinator
in the Arabian Gulf, assigning escort ships to military and
merchant ships transiting through strategic waterways.

The carrier strike group's fast combat support ship, Bridge, will
also arrive home to Naval Station Bremerton, Nov. 5. Bridge's
crew conducted more than 200 underway replenishment
evolutions, delivering more than 90 million gallons of fuel to CSG
ships and enabling them to maintain a constant presence in the
region.

The Aegis destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) returns home to
Naval Station San Diego Nov. 8. Fitzgerald provided escort of
the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) during air strikes
into Iraq and was later designated flagship for Commander of
Maritime Interception Operations in the North Arabian Gulf.
Fitzgerald also served in an Air Defense role for U.S. and
coalition ships operating in the Gulf of Oman and North Arabian
Sea, in addition to escort of merchant ships.

USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) will be the final Nimitz CSG
ship to return home, arriving in Everett, Wash., Nov. 10, after
making a brief stop in San Diego Nov. 7 to offload its helicopter
detachment. During the deployment, Rodney M. Davis was
designated as flagship for the commander of Maritime
Interception Operations in the North Arabian Gulf, intercepting
ships suspected of transporting illegal cargo, and also conducted
similar operations with coalition forces in the Southern Arabian
Gulf. When not in the North Arabian Gulf, Rodney M. Davis
escorted numerous merchant and military ships through strategic
waterways delivering critical supplies, troops, and humanitarian
assistance to Iraq.

Nimitz and her crew departed San Diego March 3. The Nimitz
CSG demonstrated the flexibility of U.S. naval forces by
providing support in the 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of
responsibility, all in a single deployment. First of the Nimitz-class
carriers, Nimitz was commissioned May 3, 1975. Displacing
more than 95,000 tons, Nimitz is home to more than 5,000
Sailors, as well as approximately 70 combat and support
aircraft. From her 4.5-acre flight deck, Nimitz can quickly launch
and recover the world's most modern military aircraft to operate
with other elements of the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as those
of allied nations.