Crew members on the USS Billings made it home to their loved ones Friday after about a six-month deployment.

There were screams — and laughter — and tears as the crew of the freedom-variant littoral combat ship returned to Naval Station Mayport on the tarmac, not a dock.

The sailors of the USS Billings returned from a four-month deployment Saturday just in time to enjoy some trick-or-treating with their families this weekend.

MAYPORT, Fla. - The Navy's newest littoral combat ship sailed into its new home port Wednesday as Naval Station Mayport welcomes the USS Billings. We will have unmanned boats, unmanned helicopters and unmanned submarines." For years after that, the defense department kept saying the long-range plan was to base another carrier at Mayport. While there's still no carrier at Mayport and none of the needed upgrades were completed, DoD has made Mayport a major home port for these Littoral Combat Ships. The Navy expects 14 of these small ships to be based at Mayport.