USS Dwight D. Eisenhower returns home after pre-deployment tests

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower concluded its latest training and evaluation assessment, the U.S. Navy announced on Monday.

The vessel returned to Norfolk, Va., its home port, after completing the Tailored Ship's Training Availability/Final Evaluation Problem on Sept. 29. TSTA/FEP is a training assessment testing a ship's ability to integrate with other assets within its carrier strike group.

Numerous drills and exercises were also performed to test the crew and its own level of readiness, including mass casualty tests, shipboard firefighting, simulated man overboard, and various flight operations scenarios. The exercises involved over 15 separate training teams aboard the ship.

The aircraft carrier, known as Ike, is the flagship of the Navy's Carrier Strike Group 10, which includes ships assigned to Destroyer Squadron 26 and aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing 3.

"Ike sailors have done it," Capt. Kyle Higgins, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier, said in a statement. "Through a mixture of patience, determination and perseverance, the sailors of our mighty ship and the rest of the Ike Carrier Strike Group completed our first Basic Phase work-up. We hold ourselves to the highest standard and push for perfection."

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was commissioned in 1977 and has participated in deployments including Operation Eagle Claw, during the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, and the Gulf War in the 1990s. It most recently served in support of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.