MAYPORT, Fla. – Crew members on the USS Billings made it home to their loved ones Friday after about a six-month deployment.
The USS Billings, along with the “Valkyrie” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28, Detachment 8, deployed in April to conduct U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea.
Hull maintenance technician Aundrea Clark’s family traveled far, just to welcome her home.
“I’m gonna go home and I’m probably gonna get some rest, spend some time with my mom. She traveled here from North Carolina,” Clark said.
Watching families reunite -- they all seemed to savor the moment. For many, it wasn’t their first deployment.
Engineman Charles Bouton says leaving the family behind doesn’t get any easier.
“This is my sixth deployment,” he said. “And this is by far the hardest one that I’ve ever done.
The USS Billings conducted the first east coast littoral combat ship overseas exchange of command and have been operating forward deployed since December 2021.