By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Robert Stirrup, Commander, Navy Region Hawai’i Public Affairs
PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- More than 300 Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) came home to a crowded pier of friends and family at Naval Station Pearl Harbor July 20 following a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific.
The ship departed Pearl Harbor Jan. 20 as a part of the Boxer (LHD4) Amphibious Ready Group. While deployed, Chung-Hoon participated in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2009, under the command of Commander, Destroyer Squadron 31.
Cmdr. Michael McCartney, commanding officer of Chung-Hoon, reflected on the tremendous success of the deployment.
"We completed every tasking that was assigned to us, and overall we performed very well while on deployment," said McCartney. "We had the opportunity to be involved in a number of different missions while still making port visits in various countries."
Friends and families were very excited to see their Sailors return home as they lined the pier.
"It's really great to see my husband come back home today," said the wife of a Chung-Hoon Sailor. "I've been looking forward to this since the day he left."
"It has been a long six months, and I'm just really happy to see him returning home," added another wife of a Chung-Hoon Sailor.
Sailors said they were thrilled to be home as they walked off the ship and in to the arms of their loved ones.
"I was very anxious to come back, it just feels great to be home," said Operations Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Cajundo. "It's really great to see all of my friends and family here today."
CARAT is an annual series of bilateral exercises held in the Southeast Asia region. The individual exercise phases generally focus on training and interaction with participating nations' sea services. The purpose of the exercise series is to improve military readiness and interoperability with each CARAT partner in a variety of mission areas of mutual benefit.
Guided missile destroyers provide multimission offensive and defensive capabilities and can operate independently or as part of carrier battle groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups and underway replenishment groups.