Bataan ARG back from 322-day deployment - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Bataan ARG back from 322-day deployment

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK — It was a little girl’s handmade sign that underlined the social impact of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group’s 322-day deployment that ended here Tuesday.

“Mommy, it’s me ... Phoebe.”

Standard six-month deployments had long given way to seven-months-plus cruises when the assault ship Bataan, the amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde and the dock landing ship Whidbey Island left Hampton Roads on March 23 — three months ahead of schedule — to pick up the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and sail east.

This cruise blew those numbers out of the water.

The Bataan group’s 322 days on deployment was the longest stretch in nearly 40 years. For family members, it was an especially demanding time, according to the Bataan’s ombudsmen.

“Thank God it’s over!” exclaimed Shelli Brown and Heather Hanneman in unison, laughing. There were many times during the 10 1/2-month ordeal, however — particularly during the four-month stretch when the families did not know a return date — when things weren’t so funny.

“A lot of tears, a lot of anger,” Hanneman, married to Electronics Technician 3rd Class (SW) Matthew Hanneman, said of the July meeting when family members were told the ship wouldn’t be home for another seven months. “I took numerous calls in the middle of the night, just to vent.”

For some — particularly those without spouses and children back home — the cruise was the experience of a lifetime.

“For me, being a single sailor, I guess it wasn’t that bad,” Cryptologic Technician (Collection) (SW) 2nd Class Johnny Cason said. “But there were a lot of people wondering when they were gonna get to see their families. Me, I’m wondering when we’re gonna pull in overseas. When am I gonna spend some money in these foreign ports?”

Still, the next one could stand to be a bit shorter, Cason admitted.

“It was good makin’ history,” he said. “But other than that ...”