Eisenhower strike group hands off Afghanistan mission

The Norfolk-based Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group has flown its final sorties over Afghanistan during its current deployment and has been relieved by the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, the Navy's Fifth Fleet announced.

Carrier Air Wing Seven flew more than 2,000 sorties over Afghanistan since leaving Norfolk in February. Ships in the strike group also patrolled for pirates and one, the destroyer Bainbridge, assisted in the rescue of the captain of the hijacked merchant ship Maersk Alabama.

Capt. Dee L. Mewbourne, Eisenhower's commanding officer, said in a news release that his crew "supported coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan with utmost professionalism."

The strike group is comprised of the Eisenhower, the Bainbridge, the underway replenishment oiler Big Horn, the dry cargo/ammunition ship Sacagawea, the guided-missile cruisers Gettysburg and Vicksburg and the guided-missile friage Halyburton. Carrier Air Wing Seven consists of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121; strike fighter squadrons 83, 103, 131 and 143; electronic attack squadron 140; and helicopter anti-submarine squadron 5.

The Navy has not yet announced a homecoming date for the strike group.