NORFOLK -- The Norfolk-based USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is now handling duty in the Gulf of Oman.
Ike's airwing, including four strike fighter squadrons from NAS Oceana in Va. Beach, will conduct combat sorties over Afghanistan in support of U.S. and coalition forces on the ground.
The carrier and crew left Naval Station Norfolk on January 2.
They replaced USS Nimitz, which will begin its return to San Diego.
During its four-month watch, Nimitz planes flew more than 2,600 combat sorties and logged nearly 15,300 flight hours.
The destroyer USS McFaul from Norfolk is among the ships in the Eisenhower Strike Group.
If all goes as planned, the group should be home in July.
