USS Stout returns to Va. after 8-month deployment

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The USS Stout returned to Virginia on Friday following a lengthy eight-month deployment that saw it help return a seized oil tanker to Libya as well as being put in a position to respond to a crisis in Syria.

The guided-missile destroyer was originally sent to the Navy’s Sixth Fleet area of responsibility, which includes waters around Europe and Africa, to conduct a routine ballistic missile defense patrol. The ship is equipped with a sophisticated radar system that allows it to track and shoot down ballistic missiles. Destroyers like the Stout are an integral part of NATO’s plan to guard its member countries from a potential ballistic missile attack. This deployment, however, went beyond the typical BMD patrol.