Bataan ARG returns home

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY/AP) - Nearly 2,000 local sailors in the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group have returned home following the longest deployment for a Navy ship in nearly 40 years.

The group is made up of the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan , amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde and the dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island .

The ships arrived in Norfolk and Virginia Beach on Tuesday after 10 and a half months at sea.

The USS Bataan and USS Mesa Verde pulled into Naval Station Norfolk. The USS Whidbey Island returned to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

Twenty-five members of the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron TWO EIGHT ( HSC-28 ), Det . TWO are also coming home. HSC-28 supported the 5th and 6th Fleet area as a part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group.

The group deployed three months ahead of schedule in March to support NATO operations in Libya.

The Bataan surpassed the record for the longest deployment for an amphibious ship by nearly three weeks, which was set by the USS Okinawa in 1990. The Bataan came within a week of passing the aircraft carrier USS Midway's deployment record, set in 1973.