By J.J. Green
FederalNewsRadio

The six-ship Enterprise Strike Group left yesterday from the Norfolk Naval Station. Its 75-hundred sailors prepared for a wide range of missions: providing security in the troubled waters and skies, fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa and supporting humanitarian efforts.

The carrier launched some of the first strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Sailors have closely followed events in Iraq and Iran but it's unclear about the exact missions the carrier group will undertake during the six-month deployment.

The group's departure began a busy week for local waterways, with almost 11-thousand sailors scheduled to deploy or return home to Norfolk Naval Station and Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach. The guided-missile destroyer Winston Churchill is set to return today to the Norfolk Navy base. It's part of the USS Nassau expeditionary strike group, which deployed in November and returns with more than 22-hundred sailors.

The Nassau will return to Norfolk on Thursday, along with the Austin, an amphibious transport ship; the Cape St. George, a guided-missile cruiser; and the Carter Hall, a dock landing ship. The submarine USS Norfolk and guided-missile destroyer Arleigh Burke will return Sunday.

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