USS Harry S. Truman to return to Norfolk after three months

July 20 (UPI) -- Units from the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group will return to Norfolk, Va., on Saturday.

"The National Defense Strategy directs us to be operationally unpredictable while remaining strategically predictable. As such, select units from the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group will return to Norfolk, Virginia, this week," commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Adm. Christopher Grady said in a Monday press release. The ship and its three escorts will return Saturday, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

The Truman Carrier Strike Group has been deployed for three months with the US 6th Fleet. The ships were involved in striking Islamic State targets in Syria and participated in exercises with allied nations.

The ships will remain operational as part of a sustainment phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan. They will undergo routine maintenance, although they still could be deployed. Training rotations for sailors will also be performed.

Seven-month deployments have been standard, which makes the Truman's return unusual. It will join the USS George H.W. Bush at Norfolk for routine refits while remaining operational. The USS Abraham Lincoln will join them this fall.