SAN DIEGO — Thursday marks a day that many military families have been waiting a long time for. The USS Abraham Lincoln is set to return to NAS North Island after a 7-month deployment. Over 5,000 sailors returned on Thursday.
The ship and its crew made history when it deployed on January 3, 2022. It was the first deployment under Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln — she's the first woman to lead a nuclear carrier in U.S. Navy history.
“There is no more humbling sense of responsibility than to know you are entrusted with the care of the people who have chosen to protect our nation,” Bauernschmidt said, according to a Navy news release. “Thank you, Capt. Slaughter, for turning over the finest ship in the fleet.”
During the deployment, the USS Abraham Lincoln sailed over 65,000 nautical miles "conducting deterrence and presence operations and multinational exercises, including maritime security operations, integrated training between surface and air units, long-range maritime strike, anti-submarine warfare, information warfare operations, maritime interdiction operations, personnel recovery, air defense operations, multiple ship navigation, formation maneuvering and refueling-at-sea operations."
“Abraham Lincoln Sailors have worked exceptionally hard during this dynamic deployment and should be proud of their accomplishments,” said Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, Abraham Lincoln commanding officer. “It is incredibly humbling to serve alongside these professionals and observe their dedication to the mission. Every day of our seven month deployment, this talented crew displayed grit, resilience and professionalism in the execution of their jobs. Their hard work made the difference as we operated alongside joint and combined forces to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
According to the Navy, some of the notable exercises included joint exercise Valiant Shield in June 2022, and bilateral exercises Noble Fusion in February and Jungle Warfare in March, both with the Japanese Self-Defense Force, and, most recently, the ABECSG trained alongside 26 participating nations during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 in July.
The Carrier Strike Group was led by the command staff of Carrier Strike Group 3 and consists of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, Carrier Air Wing 9, the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 21 -- USS Fitzgerald, USS Gridley, USS Sampson and USS Spruance.
Carrier Strike Group 3 provides a combat-ready force to protect and defend the collective maritime interests of the U.S. and its regional allies and partners. Collectively, the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group consists of more than 6,000 Sailors and Marines, capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions around the globe.
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