NORFOLK, Va. — Thursday morning at pier 14 at Naval Station Norfolk, a loud horn could be heard from the USS George Washington.
The sound was part of the process of the aircraft carrier leaving Norfolk for Japan, where it will remain, with about 3,000 sailors on board.
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About 3K sailors leave Norfolk as USS George Washington departs for Japan
The impact of the ship's departure can be wide-ranging.
There is the emotional impact.
“To say I’m sad or excited, it’s a little bit of everything," said Tracey Arthrell, whose son is on the carrier.
Arthrell shared pictures of her son with News 3 along with a video of him getting on board the ship Wednesday night as the ship prepared to leave.
“He’s living his dream and, of course, seeing a few sites along the way," said Arthrell.
Ships have ombudsmen who help sailors and their families deal with challenges that come up.
Michelle Nation is the Washington’s ombudsman.
“We’re available 24-7 to assist," Nation said. "We can help with emergencies. We’re a walking, talking resource guide. We have access to help with so many programs."
As a military spouse, she is happy to help.
"You get left alone sometimes and things get scary," said Nation. "Just being able to help families feel like they're not alone when your spouse isn't here is really important to me."
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The loss of 3,000 or so sailors could also have an impact on housing.
Norfolk realtor Erin Ward, though, doesn’t anticipate a negative impact in Hampton Roads.
The sailors are just a small portion of the overall population.
“We also have a really strong, robust real estate investment community just from the rental aspect as well," Ward explained.
It’s also not the largest number of sailors that have left.
Earlier in the year about five times as many sailors were gone while the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike groups were in the Mediterranean.
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The USS Gerald R. Ford has since come back. As of Friday, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was still deployed.
Despite large fluctuations in population like this, Ward believes having a large military population is good for the housing market.
“I think it makes us a little resilient, right, from an economic standpoint," said Ward. "When we look back to the heavy COVID period where there was a lot of job loss, I think we were a little buffered because we didn’t see as heavy of a job loss in one of our larger sectors."
Arthrell said her son on the Washington had been living with his brother, who is in Hampton Roads on the USS George H. W. Bush. as of Thursday, his brother was preparing to move to New York for his orders and planned to sell his condo.
While the USS George Washington won’t be coming back, eventually the USS Ronald Raegan will come to Norfolk and be homeported here.
Ward said the influx of thousands of sailors a carrier brings with it can have more of an impact than sailors leaving.
“That can be a little more tough," Ward said. "There are solutions for it and there are some really great programs out there as well to help these service members purchase homes."
The Washington is scheduled to meet up with the USS Ronald Reagan in San Diego over the summer where the ships will swap the majority of their crews before the Washington heads on to Japan.
