NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. – The USS Mason returned home to Naval Station Mayport on Tuesday after nearly nine months of extended combat operations.
Hundreds of sailors on the USS Mason — a guided missile destroyer armed with torpedoes, a mounted gun, missiles and a defense system — were reunited with their loved ones.
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The ship was deployed in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Mediterranean Sea, protecting vital shipping channels.
Retired Navy Adm. Robert Natter said returning home is always a great feeling.
“When people are shooting at you, you come home with a lot more satisfaction of having survived and prevailed against the enemy, and certainly very pleased and happy that you’re alive,” Natter said.
The Mason was part of a Navy strike group that came under a lot of fire in the Middle East, destroying more than 22 Houthi targets in Yemen and five Iranian-launched medium-range ballistic missiles.
The USS Carney, which worked with the Mason, returned home to Mayport in May after a seven-month deployment.
The Carney destroyed Houthi-launched weapons and 65 targets in Yemen.
It can be an adjustment for sailors to get back to regular life after spending so much time on the water.
“The first thing you have to get used to is your boss who didn’t go with you. Be it a man or a woman because that person has been taking care of the family, been taking care of all the issues back home,” Natter said. “It really is a partnership, especially for those who deploy in the military for any period of time.”