After 13 of past 23 months deployed, cruiser Monterey home in Norfolk

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Naval Station Norfolk, Va. (May 6, 2018) Guided by Moran tug boats, the guided-missile cruiser Monterey is guided into Berth 2, Pier 6 at Naval Station, Norfolk. (photo by Mark D. Faram/staff)

For many, it was the final chapter in what became a tale of two cruises.

And for those sailors and family members, not even a steady rain could dampen their spirits as the guided-missile cruiser Monterey returned from a nearly six-month surge deployment to 5th and 6th Fleets, the first ever under the Navy’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan.

It was the ship’s second deployment in as many years.

The deployment ended on a high note for the crew. On the morning of April 14, the months of maintaining readiness paid off as the ship launched 30 Tomahawk land attack missiles at Syrian military targets in response to that nation’s suspected use of chemical weapons.

“The satisfaction is really off the charts,” said Capt. Dave Stoner, Monterey’s commanding officer.

“It was a whirlwind for the 48 days that came between when we got the phone call and when we deployed. And we left the day they asked us to, ready, trained and certified when we did, and we continued to build on that all the way through the deployment.”

But when needed, the ship responded.

“Obviously, on the morning of April 14th we were absolutley ready when they called for fire,” Stoner said. “It did end with a bang, 30 of them, actually.”

As the ship came into view, the off-and-on deluge lessened to a light drizzle, allowing the families to watch the ship tie up. Moments later came the “liberty call” announcement and the crew started heading into the pier and into their loved ones arms, finally.

The ship was tapped to deploy on short notice on Oct. 16, 2017, as the Navy moved around ships to ensure there were enough ballistic-missile defense capable ships in the Pacific in the wake of the two accidents last year that knocked the destroyer’s McCain and Fitzgerald out of the ball game.

But this deployment and homecoming was only half the story. That’s because this was Monterey’s second deployment to both regions in the last 23 months.

That initial deployment came as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, of which Monterey is still a part.

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And the weather didn’t stop their commander, Rear Adm. John F. “Oscar” Meier from making a point to greet the crew upon their return.

“This ship is one of ours and the rest of the strike group is very proud of what this ship and crew has accomplished,” Meier said. “Their performance was spectacular and the way they performed their T-LAM strikes speaks volumes about them.”

According to her skipper, Stoner, roughly 50 percent of the crew arriving home today had deployed both times.

“When we started the deployment, it was about 75 percent of the crew and since then we’ve turned over roughly another 25 percent ― so about half the crew arriving home today made both deployments,” Stoner said.

Stoner noted that the Monterey’s crew has been working at a high level for even longer than the 13 months they were deployed overseas during the past two years.

“You have to remember that before the ship deployed the last time there’s an intense work-up period that starts even six-months before that,” he said.

“So there’s a number of crew members who spent the last three Thanksgivings and two Christmas’s underway, and I can guarantee they know the exact number of days it’s been ― I guarantee it.”

Monterey initially left Norfolk June 1, 2016, after six months of training as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and spent most of that deployment in 5th Fleet supporting operations there. The ship returned home Jan. 19, 2017, after seven and a half months away.

By April, they were back at work, completing the sustainment exercise with the Eisenhower Battle Group and a month later, were a part of the Fleet Week celebrations in New York.

In September, the word came they would deploy again and the crew spent more days underway in preparation before their Oct. 16 departure.

And now the Monterey and her crew get to stand down.

The crew will be on leave for about a month ― half at a time.

“Then they’ll come back and we have some maintenance to do and some training and certification to get done,” Stoner said. “Then at the end of the summer, we’ll be going in the shipyard to start our maintenance period.”

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