Truman air wing returns home after long, eventful trip to Red Sea
VIRGINIA BEACH — A long, eventful deployment reached the finish line Friday as the F/A-18s from the carrier Harry S. Truman flew in formation over Virginia Beach, as the crews' loved ones waited eagerly near the runway.
After 8 1/2 months, Carrier Air Wing returned to Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach on Friday.
'I'm just so happy to be home,' said Capt. Leslie Mintz. 'I'm so happy everyone is home and reunited with their families.'
The aircraft carrier and its strike group spent more than five months defending merchant mariners and military vessels from Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It lost three F/A-18s during that time, but no crew members.
One of the fighter jets was shot down accidentally by friendly fire. A second fell overboard as the carrier made an abrupt turn while the jet was being towed. A third crashed into the Red Sea after the aircraft failed to land on the carrier.
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Even after the incidents encountered while deployed, Mintz said one word she would use to describe the air wing would be perseverance.
'It is a bond that will never be broken, what we have done together,' Mintz said.
Kendall Warner, kendall.warner@virginiamedia.com
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