Oh baby! USS Vinson sailors return to hug new children after 9-month deployment

Family and friends of 5,000 sailors greeted the return of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson on Thursday — with hugs, signs, cheers and tears. And new babies.

Rear Adm. Amy Bauernschmidt, who became commander of Carrier Strike Group 1 on April 24 aboard the Vinson, briefed media at North Island.

“Vinson sailed 86,000 nautical miles (and) conducted 23,000 hours of safe flight operations, which incorporated 11,000 sorties,” she said.

Besides taking part in multinational exercises, Bauernschmidt said, “we also conducted real world operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, protecting global commerce and countering regional threats.”

She didn’t share details, but media reports said the Vinson launched airstrikes in April on Yemen-based Houthi rebels ahead of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Footage released by the Navy showed the Vinson preparing ordinance and launching F-35 and F/A-18 fighter jets.

The Associated Press cited satellite photos by the European Union’s Copernicus program showing the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier operating northeast of Socotra, an island off Yemen that sits near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden

“Our sailors operated with precision and professionalism, safely executing the mission,” Bauernschmidt said. “They brought skill, adaptability and teamwork — proving that warfighting is about people as much as it is about our incredible assets.”

One of the relatives at the dock was Mallorie Nordahl, waiting for her husband, Joseph Mini. In her arms was 2 1/2-year-old daughter Charley. In a stroller was their 3-month-old daughter Azalea.

“It’s been really tough,” Nordahl said.

She said Charley has changed a lot since Joseph’s departure.

“She was barely talking, and now she uses full sentences and is running and jumping.”

What is the first thing she will do when they get home? “Sit in the house and stare at each other.”

Kateri Chino was a bundle of emotions waiting for her sailor daughter, Priya.

Asked what she was feeling, Chino said: “Relief” and “I’m not going to let her go. Just hold her and enjoy the moment.”

One mother — Jasmine Venavente — had seven kids in tow as she watched for Blayne Benavente, her religious program specialist husband. The pierside children gave a rousing cheer of “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

The Vinson strike group left Naval Air Station North Island on Nov. 18 for a planned West Pacific tour.

But the Navy ordered the ships — including the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton and guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett — to the Middle East four months into the deployment.

By Christmas 2024, the carrier also was operating in the South China Sea, USNI News reported.

“It visited Port Klang, Malaysia, before heading back to the South China Sea in early January,” that outlet said. “At the time, Carl Vinson was the only deployed carrier in the region as George Washington remained in port at Yokosuka, Japan.”

After three months there, including an exercise with the Philippines, the carrier had a port call in Laem Chabang, Thailand.

The Vinson group took part in Exercise Pacific Steller 2025 in February, along with a French carrier strike group and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer carrier JS Kaga.

The carrier strike group operated in the Sea of Japan in early March following a five-day port call at Busan, South Korea, USNI News said.

Capt. Josh Wenker, commander of the Vinson since only July 30, also addressed the media.

Nicknamed “America’s Favorite Carrier” after burying the body of Osama Bin Laden at sea in May 2011, the Vinson saw “threats in the area,” Wenker said.

“We were operating so that we kept the ship safe and our sailors safe and continuing to remain the most lethal … Navy in the world,” he said. “We handled all the threats that came towards Carl Vinson.”

Wenker also introduced a labrador retriever named Captain Rudder.

The canine spent the entire deployment on ship as an expeditionary facility animal.

“He goes with us on deployment on the ship and provides a touch of home for the sailors … add some extra resiliency,” Wenker said, calling his presence “truly a game-changer having him on board. It’s been great.”

Rudder’s handler, Gunner’s Mate Chief Andrew Levett, told Times of San Diego: “I see the junior sailors — their faces light up. It’s honestly a pick-me-up for all ranks. … He’s done a womdeful job. He really battled though like the rest of us.”