STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
When American troops deploy for war, they leave their families behind. And the longer the deployment, the more the hardship for those families. This morning, we're going to hear some of their experiences here on NPR News. Steve Walsh with WHRO is covering this. Steve, good morning.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK. I just want to note you're in Norfolk, Virginia, which is home to the world's largest naval base. What is the...
WALSH: Right.
INSKEEP: ...Effect there of the war in Iran?
WALSH: Between the conflict in Iran and the operation in the Caribbean, more than 15,000 Norfolk-area sailors and Marines have been out. The carrier USS George H.W. Bush just arrived in the Middle East. Navy officials say the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is not expected to return until sometime in May. But the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with its three ships and 4,500 sailors and Marines have been deployed to the Caribbean for more than eight months. Only one ship came back this week. The U.S. continues to target small boats that the administration says are involved in the drug trade.
Long deployments make it tougher for spouses with young children to work. In Norfolk, Armed Services YMCA provides low-cost childcare, but there's a waiting list. Food insecurity has long been an issue for families of young sailors. The Y operates a food pantry, but the group has had to cut back its hours. I talked with Tessa Davis, the local Y's program director.
TESSA DAVIS: We had to do that because when it was first come, first served, some people would sit in their cars literally for six hours because there would be such a great need for it. And our whole parking lot would be full as people just waiting for the foods.
INSKEEP: Wow, sitting in the car for six hours just to get a meal. I want to ask about one of the ships you mentioned. Each of those ships, of course, has thousands of people. The Gerald R. Ford has had some trouble while it's been deployed.
WALSH: Oh, yeah. That's true. So after leaving Norfolk, Virginia, last year on June 24, the carrier and its strike group have now spent more than 10 months at sea. The Ford has been ordered to go from Europe to the Caribbean for the U.S. operation around Venezuela and then on to the Middle East. It received - it's recently surpassed the longest deployment by a carrier during the COVID era. Ford is now back in the Red Sea after the Navy repaired damage from a March 12 fire in the laundry room that spread to the berthing areas. Families are sending care packages after some sailors lost most of their personal belongings in the fire, but the packages can take months to arrive if they don't get lost. Taryn Couitt, whose husband is on the USS Ford, says this deployment has been particularly tough on young sailors going to sea for the first time.
TARYN COUITT: Being gone for that long, it's got to be tough on anybody, especially - you know, they only get a short amount of port visits where they get to really, like, sleep in a normal bed, eat some normal food and take a shower, not wait in line for a toilet.
INSKEEP: How, if at all, does the Navy try to help?
WALSH: So the Navy tries to keep deployments to six to seven months, acknowledging the strain on families. Sailors and Marines receive hardship duty pay if they are deployed for more than roughly seven months, but that amount hasn't been updated since 2014. The $16.50-a-day stipend is now worth less than one hour of minimum wage in California. Kathy Roth-Douquet is head of Blue Star Families. That group helps military families. She says that stipend just doesn't begin to cover the sailors' costs.
KATHY ROTH-DOUQUET: We can't stop the military from deploying. That's their mission. But we as a community can shore up these families so that the hit isn't so hard.
WALSH: She is hearing from families of sailors who are struggling financially, spouses who have had to quit jobs because they couldn't find childcare the longer these record-breaking deployments stretch on.
INSKEEP: Steve Walsh in Norfolk. Thanks so much.
WALSH: Thanks, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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