USS George H.W. Bush Departs for Deployment, USS Gerald Ford Could Be Extended to 11 Months

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. — The sun peeked over the horizon tinting the haze gray hull of carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) orange while sailors on Pier 14 busied themselves preparing for the carrier to shove off across the Atlantic. The mood of families at the pier Tuesday was subdued without the pomp and cheer of last summer’s deployment of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) – the last carrier to leave the East Coast. With the early morning departure and a brisk wind, most families had said goodbye to their sailors the night before to meet the rolling curfew