Welcome back, Navy

Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. – The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of the first ships sent abroad in the U.S. war on terror, docked Wednesday after a six-month mission, sending crew members streaming ashore into the tearful embraces of family members.

Rain and a blustery wind failed to wash out the festive atmosphere at Norfolk Naval Station’s Pier 14 where thousands hailed the return of the warship from a 189-day cruise.

“USA! USA! USA!” the throng chanted as the first carrier to deploy after Sept. 11 was nudged into the pier by tugboats. Many waved and wept openly before the crew left the ship.

Sailors waiving American flags waved back from the deck of the 1,092-foot carrier.

“We still have 30 ships out there and thousands of shipmates who continue to do the job,” said Adm. Robert Natter, commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. “The answer to this (the war on terrorism) is not have we captured Osama Bin Laden … but rather keeping them on the defensive, keeping them running. We are winning.”

Welcoming the sailors at the pier were Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and other dignitaries.

The ship flew the flag of New York City as it pulled alongside the pier. A banner, fashioned from a bedsheet, proclaimed: “Freedom Endures.”

The Roosevelt launched 60 to 80 combat flights a day into Afghanistan, and the ship’s aviators routinely flew 14 hours a day.

“We helped deter terrorism,” said Capt. Stephen Voetsch, commander of the carrier air wing.

Roosevelt departed Norfolk on Sept. 19 on a regularly scheduled deployment, the first for a battle group after the Sept. 11 attacks in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

While the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was pulling into Norfolk, Va., relatives of some 200 members of Electronic Attack Squadron 137 were gearing up at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station for the return of the Prowler squadron from its 189-day deployment with the Roosevelt.

The EA-6B radar-jamming jets, their air crews and the ground crews all returned to Whidbey on Wednesday after logging nearly 1,200 combat hours in the Afghanistan area.

Nicknamed the Rooks, the Whidbey fliers were the first Prowler squadron to use new night vision devices in combat operations, logging in a total of 747 hours with the new equipment.