The future amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) arrived at its homeport of San Diego for the first time Sept. 15 after completing its two-month maiden transit from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The America crew trained for nearly two years to take possession of the ship, pushing through the countless amounts of training, working parties, food onloads, inspections, assessments and certifications required to bring the ship and crew home.
“All the hard work, training and preparations for this deployment have been built up for this moment,” said Logistics Specialist 1st Class Rico Alonzo. “We didn’t just build the ship, we built a family and accomplished our mission.”
During the transit, the ship and crew traveled 15,300 miles, made port visits to Colombia, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Brazil, and Peru, engaging in cooperative maritime security operations in order to maintain access, enhance interoperability and build enduring partnerships that foster regional security.
America will be in homeport for a few weeks to give the crew some well deserved time off before the ship begins its voyage toward San Francisco for the ship’s commissioning. The ship is scheduled to be commissioned Oct. 11.