NORFOLK, Va. - The USS Harry S. Truman returned to Naval Station Norfolk Tuesday.
The Truman arrived Tuesday afternoon at around 2 p.m. after spending months at sea to protect the crew from COVID-19 following the end of a deployment to the Middle East.
The ship and its crews were welcomed with rainy and windy weather, but it was bright for the crew back home.
"It's an awful lot like the way it looked in the middle of November when we left here," Capt. Kavon Hakimzade, the commanding officer of the USS Harry S. Truman, said. "I guess the weather hasn't changed since we've been gone."
The Sailors lined the side and exit portals of the ship eager to dock and touch dry land for the first time in seven months.
"There are several thousand Sailors that are very, very excited to be back home," RDML Ryan Scholl, commander of the USS Harry S. Truman, said. "I'm privileged and blessed to be the battle-group commander to bring them in."
The decision was made to keep the strike group at sea ready to respond if needed.
Navy leaders say no COVID-19 cases were reported on board, and they were confident the measure to stay at sea helped.
Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite flew out to the Truman earlier this month to tell the crew they had the green-light to return home.
