The commander of newly home CARRIER STRIKE GROUP 12, including the NIMITZ-CLASS CARRIER LINCOLN, said Monday that its recent presence in the North Arabian Sea “kept us from going to war with

Iran.” REAR ADM. MICHAEL E. BOYLE told reporters at Coronado’s Navy base that the Lincoln’s deterrence effect allowed America to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East — “and you

can take that to the bank.” After saying the Lincoln crew was happy to be home at its new (and former) port, he declared: “If anybody tells you that the carrier is no longer relevant or no

longer needed, they need to have their head examined.” Boyle said that if Iran had decided to continue to escalate tensions, “they did that with the knowledge that just over the horizon was

a reaction to a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”) Central Command having response options during the strike group’s seven months in the area was a credible

deterrent, Boyle said. “Of course, we [were] on the edge of our seat — we’ve got an unknown adversary,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do.” But he said the group’s

training and dedication “got has us in a great spot to take on all comers.” He and the Lincoln’s commanding officer also defended the longest deployment since Vietnam — and the longest ever

by a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. “But the reality is — in the world today — we’re going to put an aircraft carrier wherever we need to put an aircraft carrier, and we’re going to leave

them there as long as we need to leave them there,” Boyle said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW The USS Abraham Lincoln passes the USS Midway on his way to port at Naval Air Station North Island.

Photo by Chris Stone Abhan Toro is welcomed by family members at the homecoming of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Photo by Chris Stone USS Abraham Lincoln sailor Sarah Felix has a laugh with her

daughter, Milena Olivas, 18 months, upon arriving in San Diego. Photo by Chris Stone Thousands of family members greeted sailors as they arrived in San Diego on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Photo by Chris Stone A USS Abraham Lincoln sailor is greeted by a family member. Photo by Chris Stone After a 10-month deployment, the USS Abraham Lincoln arrived at its new home on

Coronado. Photo by Chris Stone J.D. Raposa (right) jumps for joy as he watches the USS Abraham Lincoln pull into port after a 10-month deployment. Photo by Chris Stone Tamara Perez shares an

emotional moment with her mother at the homecoming of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Photo by Chris Stone A young boy holds a sign for his father who arrived on the USS Abraham Lincoln at Naval

Air Station North Island. Photo by Chris Stone Ashley Sherman is overjoyed to be reunited with her husband, Jeff, at the USS Abraham Lincoln homecoming. Photo by Chris Stone Navy personnel

were greeted with hugs, flowers and balloons after a 10-month deployment. Chris Stone Navy personnel were greeted with hugs, flowers and balloons after a 10-month deployment. Photo by Chris

Stone Lt. Cmdr. Luke Donahue comforts his daughter, Elaina,8, who had tears of joy when reuniting with her father. Photo by Chris Stone The 6,000 service members of the USS Abraham Lincoln

arrived in their new home after a 10-month deployment. Photo by Chris Stone Rear Adm. Michael E. Boyle (left) and Capt. Walter M. Slaughter, commanding officer of the USS Abraham Lincoln,

answer questions from the media. Photo by Chris Stone Several USS Abraham Lincoln service members met their babies for the first time Monday. Photo by Chris Stone USS Abraham Lincoln sailor

Michael Sikorski meets his 6-week-old son, Ryder held by his mother Alexis. Photo by Chris Stone A naval officer is greeted by his wife as the USS Abraham Lincoln arrives at its new home at

Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado. Photo by Chris Stone USS Abraham Lincoln crew members wait to disembark after a 10-month deployment. Photo by Chris Stone Daniel Nolan (left) and

his children Jack and Easton decorate a sign to welcome mom Kadie Reddick. Photo by Chris Stone Families cheer as the USS Abraham Lincoln pulls into port on Coronado. Some recently moved

from Virginia. Photo by Chris Stone Sheila Joseph holds tight to her son, Charles, after he came off of the USS Abraham Lincoln at a homecoming on Coronado. Photo by Chris Stone A sailor

from the USS Abraham Lincoln is welcomed home by a loved one. Photo by Chris Stone The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived at Naval Air Station North Island at midmorning. Photo by Chris Stone Boys

wait for their father as the USS Abraham Lincoln is pushed to shore by tugs. Photo by Chris Stone Families and friends welcomed the service members of the USS Abraham Lincoln with balloons

and flowers. Photo by Chris Stone Family members and friends greeted thousands of naval personnel at a homecoming of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Photo by Chris Stone He acknowledged the 294-day

deployment was hard on sailors and their families. But “they were able to work themselves through that,” Boyle said on the dock before nearly 6,000 sailors disembarked. “We stayed after

that by being transparent with the crew and let them know exactly what we knew.” He said that as the Lincoln passed the USS MIDWAY, now a docked museum, “we looked over and said: There’s the

record holder. We’re right behind her.” (The Midway was out for 327 days in 1973, the Vietnam era.) Capt. Walter M. Slaughter — commanding officer of the Lincoln, which served in the

Pacific Fleet from 1990 to 2011 — parried several questions about the long deployment. He said the crew knew its mission and took it in stride. “I won’t say they liked it, but they get it,”

he said. “And we did our job. And they did it well.” Boyle said this long deployment wouldn’t be the “measure” in the future. “But it’s the nature of the world,” he said, “and we’ve got to

be ready to do whatever the Navy and the nation needs us to do. And this particular time out they needed us to stay on station for as long as we did, which was just shy of 10 months.”

Slaughter was asked what he’d tell family members of the crews. “We cannot do it without your support,” he said. “I’ve said it over and over, and the families know this, we can’t thank them

enough for their support. They are the ones that enable us to do our job. And it’s their support back home, it really pushes us through. I would just say: Thank you.” Many families had the

added burden of moving thousands of miles from the Lincoln’s former home port of Norfolk, Virginia. Katie Johnson, waiting for husband, Brian, said: “Moving across the country is hard. You

take it day by day. I can’t wait for a home and to be a whole family unit. We’re going to soak up all of the family time we can.” In any case, “San Diego is our home now. You make wherever

you are home.” Kristen Reddick, whose daughter was on the Lincoln, has been playing mom to her grandchildren — Jack, 6, and Easton, 5. “I’m really ecstatic,” she said of the reunion with

daughter Kadie after moving out from Norfolk. “I just want to hug her.” Reddick said this deployment has been a rough one, but “I wanted to make sure I did everything the way she would have

done it.” Talya McElhaney was waiting to see her husband, Jayson. A local Jewish Community Center has given good support to her and her two children, but “home doesn’t feel right without

him. Home is where he is.” A reporter noted how good the ship looked as compared to the carrier Roosevelt that left on Friday. “That’s a testament to the Lincoln Nation and the young men and

women that take good care of the ship,” said Slaughter, the skipper. “We’re in as good a shape today as we were when we left Norfolk on April 1st.” _*An earlier version of this story

incorrectly suggested that the Lincoln was in the Arabian Sea at the time of the U.S. drone strike on Iran Gen. Qasem Soleiman._ _Updated at 11:13 p.m. Jan. 20, 2020_