Carrier Bush, strike group to return Saturday

By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 6, 2011

NORFOLK

Saturday will be joyful for thousands of local families welcoming home sailors from a seven-month deployment.

The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush, destroyers Truxtun and Mitscher and cruiser Anzio are scheduled to return to Norfolk on Saturday, the Navy announced Monday. The carrier strike group, which includes nearly 6,000 sailors, departed May 10.

It was the first deployment for the Bush, skippered by Capt. Brian Luther. And it was also the first time that a woman, Rear Adm. Nora Tyson, commanded a carrier strike group.

The ships and nine squadrons of aircraft that make up Carrier Air Wing Eight supported U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and conducted security operations in the Mediterranean and Arabian seas, the Navy said in a news release.

About 150 aviators are to fly in to Oceana Naval Air Station and Norfolk Naval Station on Wednesday. The fifth ship in the strike group, the cruiser Gettysburg, is scheduled to return to Mayport, Fla., on Thursday.

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