Sailors' family members wave farewell as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan departs Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 16, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Nearly 400 sailors in their dress whites manned the USS Ronald Reagan’s rails Thursday morning as the aircraft carrier steamed out of Tokyo Bay on its final deployment from Japan.
The ship’s departure from the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet concludes nearly a decade of Navy history in the Indo-Pacific region. The Ronald Reagan is scheduled to make its final patrol before relocating to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.
During its tenure at Yokosuka, the carrier took part in dozens of multinational exercises, visited more than 15 foreign ports and covered more than 460,000 miles on its annual, six-month deployments, according to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel.
“As impressive as those numbers are, they miss one critical element: the dedication of our sailors and airmen and women of this ship, the Ronald Reagan,” he told reporters from the ship’s flight deck ahead of its departure. “That dedication cannot be quantified, but it is measured.”
Sailors man the USS Ronald Reagan's rails as the aircraft carrier prepares to depart Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 16, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
Sailors' family members wave farewell as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan departs Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 16, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel thanks USS Ronald Reagan sailors as they prepare to depart Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 16, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
The Ronald Reagan, commissioned in July 2003, carries a crew of more than 5,000 and better than 60 aircraft, according to the Navy.
Replacing the Ronald Reagan will be the USS George Washington, which is on a deployment that includes scheduled port calls in Brazil, Chile and Peru.
It’s expected to arrive later this year, but additional details have not been disclosed. A portion of the two carriers’ crews will exchange places at some point, but an exact number was not immediately available, Task Force 70 spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Seth Koenig told Stars and Stripes on the pier.
The Ronald Reagan first arrived in Yokosuka in 2015, when it replaced the George Washington, which relocated to Newport News, Va., for mid-life nuclear refueling and maintenance.
Since then, the Ronald Reagan has led Carrier Strike Group 5 as the Navy’s only aircraft carrier homeported overseas.
Its presence in the region served as a “tangible sign of America’s commitment to our closest allies here and throughout the region,” Rear Adm. Gregory Newkirk, strike group commander, told reporters from the flight deck.
“I cannot emphasize enough how much we, and the world, benefit from the incredible strength of our U.S.-Japan alliance,” he said.
Sailors man the USS Ronald Reagan's rails as the aircraft carrier prepares to depart Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 16, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
The USS Ronald Reagan's skipper, Capt. Daryle Cardone, speaks to reporters ahead of the aircraft carrier's departure from Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 16, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
In June 2021, the Ronald Reagan and its strike group deployed to the Middle East to join the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in providing cover for U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan. Over 150 days, the ship’s F-18 Super Hornets flew missions over Kabul, while sailors provided logistical support and humanitarian aid.
A month later, the Ronald Reagan drilled alongside the British navy’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, during its maiden voyage. Soon after, the two ships joined the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for a rare, three-carrier drill as part of a 17-ship armada.
Last June, the Ronald Reagan and the guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Robert Smalls made a historic visit to Da Nang, Vietnam. The stop made the carrier only the third of its class to make a port call in the country since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, and the first since the COVID-19 pandemic subsided.
“For the past nine years, the USS Ronald Reagan and her crew have ensured that millions of people across the Indo-Pacific have been able to live their lives free of coercion, aggression and suppression,” Emanuel said.
As sailors lined the carrier shoulder-to-shoulder, more than 100 people gathered pier-side for its departure. At least 100 more gathered elsewhere on base to watch the ship steam away.
For Dominic DeBernardis, the husband of Petty Officer 2nd Class Ashli DeBernardis, the situation was hard to describe.
“I don’t know how I feel,” he said, adding that his wife would return to Yokosuka with the George Washington. “This is the first time my wife is deploying.”
Joanna Baniaga, the spouse of a Defense Department contractor, said watching the ship go is bittersweet — particularly because her brother, Lt. Michael Chai, is aboard. Chai, a public affairs officer, will not return with the George Washington.
“We were really fortunate when he relocated here,” Baniaga said as the carrier left the pier. “It’s hard to see him go.”
