USS Roosevelt, Stricken by COVID-19 Outbreak in March, Returns From Deployment

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier sidelined in March when more than 1,000 of its sailors tested positive for COVID-19 pulled into Naval Base San Diego on Thursday, ending a tumultuous deployment to the Indo-Pacific.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) has been on deployment for nearly 6 months. More than 6,000 sailors from Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 deployed from San Diego on Jan. 17 to conduct routine operations and maintain security in the region.
Unlike typical homecomings, sailors did not see a line of cheering friends and family awaiting their arrival on Naval Base San Diego as the ship pulled into port Thursday morning.
"It was a sombering feeling seeing that we didn’t have our families out here after we’ve gone for so long," said an emotional Air Traffic Controller First Class Daniel Adam Wright, who has been assigned to USS Roosevelt for three years.
The change was issued as a safety precaution due to the novel coronavirus and was a stark reminder for sailors of a deployment that was anything but routine.