After moving to the Red Sea to participate in operations against Iran, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S.' newest and largest aircraft carrier, is approaching a record breaking deployment.
The Ford is on track to exceed the longest deployment of any aircraft carrier since the end of the Vietnam war. The USS Nimitz was kept at sea for 321 days before returning in 2021, but that deployment came during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and was designed as a way to quarantine ships by keeping them at sea.
As of Tuesday, the Ford was on the 266th day of its current deployment, and it will be at least several more weeks before it returns. Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. James Kilby confirmed to lawmakers recently that the Navy did not expect the carrier to return until May.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged the expanding mission during a recent Pentagon briefing.
"The crews on board this strike group have already endured months at sea only to get their deployment extended. These exceptional Americans rogered up, all supported by their families, continue to stand the watch, taking the fight to the enemy," Caine said.
The Ford's crew left Norfolk, Va., on June 24, initially bound for the Mediterranean. They were redeployed to the Caribbean in November, where the Ford became part of the Trump administration's operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January. The carrier stayed in the Caribbean, as the U.S. continued to pursue sanctioned oil tankers and destroy small craft that the administration has said were carrying drugs.
Just weeks later, the Ford was moved to the Middle East. It was first sent off of the coast of Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean, before heading to the Red Sea for the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran.
The crew was told in the second week of February they would be home by early March, according to the parent of a crew member who spoke to NPR. They did not wish to be identified out of concern for retribution on the sailor.
Less than 12 hours later, the crew was told the carrier was being diverted from the Caribbean back to the Mediterranean, and that they probably wouldn't be home until May. Some sailors have questioned whether they want to stay in the Navy, according to the parent.
"If they are worried about people wanting to reenlist, this doesn't help retention," the parent said.
In response to a request for comment, the Navy referred NPR to a February statement praising the sailors of the Ford for their "resilience, professionalism, and sustained morale while serving far from home."
A crew tested by war, fire and sewage
The lengthy deployment is posing a test for the crew of the Ford. Last week, U.S. Central Command reported that three sailors were injured when a fire broke out in the carrier's laundry room. According to the Navy, the fire was not related to combat. Stars and Stripes originally reported that one sailor was airlifted from the ship.
U.S. Central Command confirms that the sailor is in stable condition and that the fire is under investigation. The other two sailors have been cleared to return to duty. The New York Times has reported that the damage was far more extensive than the Navy reported and that 600 sailors have been displaced from their bunks.
"They are tired. The fire obviously impacted morale, further degrading it after their last extension," said the parent, after talking to their sailor on board the carrier. "The longer they are at sea, the more scheduled maintenance gets deferred. And if they can't do laundry, how will that impact sanitation? Coupled with the toilet issue, this is a huge hygiene problem."
NPR has previously reported about problems with the ship's sewage treatment system that have left crew without working toilets. Navy memos show the problems grew worse during the first few months of the carrier's deployment. There were multiple breakdowns each day and sailors onboard were struggling to find a solution. The Navy says the issues improved after that period, but they are still seeing on average one maintenance call per day.
During a stop in Norfolk, the day after the bombing campaign in Iran began, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., expressed concern about the goals of the Iran operation. He said sailors and their families deserved a clearer rationale for a mission that has kept the Ford out at sea for as long as it has.
"It kind of adds insult to injury if you are deployed now for months beyond what you expected, and the sewage system doesn't work," Warner said. "What kind of stress are we putting on these sailors?"
The cost of lengthy deployments
The Navy prefers to limit carrier deployments to six to seven months. During the pandemic, the Navy essentially quarantined ships by keeping them at sea, with multiple ships remaining deployed for roughly 10 and 11 months.
Long deployments take a toll on both the ship and the crew. COVID-era crews called it "droning," where sailors would work almost on autopilot as they completed tasks, slept and stood watch, said John Cordle, a recently retired Navy captain and human factors engineer. He specializes in the impact of shipboard fatigue and stress.
Cordle worked on a Navy report about the USS Harry S. Truman, which saw a crash and three lost F/A-18s Hornets during a hectic eight month deployment in the Red Sea that ended in June 2025. One of the problems they found was how hard the crew pressed to keep the ship running, while under constant stress.
"There's a difference between the can-do attitude and the just-get-it-done attitude that was noted in the areas of the Truman report, where people take shortcuts," he said.
The number of sailors also tends to drop the longer a ship is at sea, which adds to the workload. When a carrier deploys, the Navy makes sure that it is close to fully manned, but sailors leave throughout the deployment and they aren't replaced as quickly, which can leave the ship shorthanded, Cordle said.
"Once the ship leaves port, then the next ship in line becomes the first priority," he said.
In January, Chief of Naval Operations, Adml. Daryl Caudle said he didn't want to see USS Ford extended, citing the impact on the crew and its families, as well as the wear and tear on the ship. As the Navy built up the massive armada in the Middle East, Caudle released a message, saying the carrier was ready and its problems with the sewage system and other maintenance issues were under control.
The next aircraft carrier, the John F. Kennedy, is still being built. The new carrier was supposed to be delivered to the Navy last year, but it is now scheduled to be delivered in 2027, according to Huntington Ingalls Industries, which builds all Ford class aircraft carriers at its facility in Newport News, Va. The late delivery has put more pressure on the existing carriers like the Ford.
A history of sewage issues on the Ford
The sewage issues date back to before the USS Ford was commissioned. The vacuum system used to flush sewage through the ship's plumbing was new to aircraft carriers, though it has been used by cruise ships.
The Ford was also designed without urinals, which use less water than toilets. Designers underestimated how much water the system would use, Cordle said.
The USS George HW Bush was the first aircraft to have a similar sewage system installed and it suffered massive breakdowns through 2013. The carrier was overhauled in 2015 to lessen some of the problems. It spent an extra two months in the shipyard to install the fix.
The Navy has not responded to questions about how the crew is coping with the issues. Memos reviewed by NPR indicate the hull department was using high-pressure water to clear calcium deposits. They were also cutting out and replacing sections of pipe to keep the system working.
When its deployment is finally over, the USS Ford is scheduled for a maintenance overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where it's expected to receive an upgrade similar to the USS Bush. Ironically, the Bush is the next aircraft carrier being readied for deployment. It has completed pre-deployment exercises in Norfolk, after coming out of an 11-month maintenance period at the end of 2024, according to the Navy.
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