PEARL HABOR, Hawaii -- The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) returned to its homeport, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Oct. 29, following a seven-month deployment to the U.S. 4th Fleet and U.S. 7th Fleet area of operation.

Halsey left Pearl Harbor April 10, following a two-week pierside sequester period, and remained at sea for most of the following seven months due to operational tasking and the constraints of operating forward during the COVID pandemic.

"Team Halsey is really proud of what we accomplished: flexing to deploy early on short notice, integrating smoothly with the U.S. Coast Guard for counternarcotics operations in U.S. 4th Fleet then transitioning to U.S. 7th Fleet and the fast-paced operations there, all successfully and safely,” said Cmdr. DeVere Crooks, Halsey’s commanding officer. “Our Sailors did all this despite the challenges of COVID and without a liberty port visit in seven months."

Halsey arrived in U.S. 4th Fleet to participate in U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s enhanced counternarcotics operations missions in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean alongside embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 37.

Halsey’s efforts contributed to an interdiction of an estimated 2,000 kilograms of drugs, worth an estimated street value of 140 million dollars. Halsey also rendered assistance to mariners in distress when the crew responded to a radio call from a nearby fishing vessel, medically evacuating a critically injured Costa Rican fisherman, further strengthening international relations in the area.

While in U.S. 7th Fleet, Halsey conducted sustained presence operations, enforcement coordination cell operations in support of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2397. Halsey then integrated with Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group conducting multiple strait transits and presence operations in the Indian Ocean.