A Cabinet Welcome on the San Diego Waterfront for the Crew of the Lincoln

The USS Abraham Lincoln came home to San Diego on Wednesday afternoon, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was there to meet it. He addressed the crew as the carrier returned from a deployment that ran longer than planned. A homecoming at this scale is one of the country's great public occasions. An aircraft carrier coming back to its home port is a rare sight, and the Pentagon's top civilian chose to be there in person rather than send a message. It is the kind of event this desk exists to note: a cabinet officer standing on an American pier to thank the people who served. The Lincoln is one of the largest ships the nation sends to sea, and a carrier's arrival is a city event as much as a naval one. For the sailors, Wednesday marked the end of a long time away and the start of the return to ordinary life on shore.

With reporting from The Hill.