USS Carl Vinson headed to homeport in San Diego after Pearl Harbor visit

PEARL HARBOR (KUSI) — The USS Carl Vinson is headed home to San Diego after a four-day port visit at Pearl Harbor that ended Saturday.

Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and the embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, after a scheduled four-day port visit, June 17.

While in Hawaii, Carl Vinson Sailors hosted tours and greeted family and friends who will ride the ship on her easterly transit to her homeport of Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.

“Being able to have my family get a feel of the ship when we’re out here grinding every day is really special,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Jason Stanfield, of Cypress, Texas. “I’m really looking forward to showing them my spaces and the air power demonstration the ship has coordinated. It’s a rare opportunity.”

Stanfield’s father shared his son’s enthusiasm, noting that he is excited to see what life is really like on a Navy warship at sea. “We see many portrayals of life at sea in the media, but I am looking forward to experiencing it firsthand,” said Chad Linna. “As I do that, I get to spend the final days of my son’s deployment with him. It’s an all-around rewarding and unique experience.” 

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups have patrolled the Indo-Asia-Pacific regularly and routinely for more than 70 years and will continue to do so. Carl Vinson has deployed to the region several times, starting with a deployment to the Western Pacific in 1983 a year after commissioning. Most recently in 2015, Carl Vinson conducted port visits and exercises with regional navies in the South China Sea.

The carrier is returning to it’s home port in San Diego after a six-month deployment where it spent some time near the Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions between the United States and North Korea. They completed training drills with South Korea’s navy and the ships presence was seen as a show of force by the United States.

North Korea has tested several ballistic missile tests with a goal of developing a missile that could reach the United States from a North Korea launch point.

The USS Ronald Reagan was sent to the Korean Peninsula from its homeport in Japan to replace USS Carl Vinson in the Pacific.