The 2015 deployment was led by its new flagship, USS Theodore Roosevelt, which has since left the group and shifted homeport to Naval Base San Diego, California.

[7] To augment this NIFC-CA capability, the strike group embarked the new E-2D airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, making its first overseas deployment.

The Saratoga battle group and the rest of Task Force 60 later carried out Operation El Dorado Canyon, a series of punitive air strikes against Libya in retaliations to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.

[14] On 30 September 1992, when Saratoga accidentally fired two Sea Sparrow missiles at the Turkish destroyer minelayer TCG Muavenet, during Exercise 'Display Determination '92,' Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight was embarked.

[15] During the early period of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight was embarked aboard Theodore Roosevelt as a part of Task Force 60, striking Iraqi targets from the Mediterranean Sea.

[22][27] During this initial rotation, Carrier Air Wing One flew 781 sorties in support of Coalition ground forces in Afghanistan for a total of 3,832 flight hours.

All four strike fighter squadrons from Carrier Air Wing One flew more than 450 sorties and delivered over 100 precision weapons during this second rotation to the Persian Gulf which ended on 1 November 2006.

Seven days later, on 23 July 2007, two French Rafale M jet fighters landed on board the Enterprise and were subsequently launched, a first for an American aircraft carrier.

[48][49] On 5 November 2007, James E. Williams and Arleigh Burke provided aid to the crew of MV Ching Fong Hwa 168 (pictured), a Taiwanese-flagged fishing trawler that had been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia in May.

[41][57] On 11 April 2008, Enterprise began a two-year, US$661.7 million Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA) overhaul at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard in Virginia.

[65] Enterprise returned to Naval Station Norfolk on 19 April 2010 after completing its post-overhaul sea trials, signalling the start of the pre-deployment training cycle for Carrier Strike Group Twelve.

[67] On 13 January 2011, Carrier Strike Group Twelve departed its home base of Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, under the command of Rear Admiral Terry B.

[68][72] Also during this deployment, the guided-missile destroyer Barry was detached from Carrier Strike Group Twelve in order to participate in Operation Odyssey Dawn.

[68] Enterprise and Leyte Gulf also supported the recapture of the 37,000 DWT Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MV Arrilah-1 from Somali pirates by United Arab Emirates special operation forces on 2 April 2011.

After determining that Guanabara's crew was safely in the ship's citadel, Bulkeley's boarding team, supported overhead by its embarked SH-60 helicopter, secured the Bahamian-flagged vessel and detained four suspected pirates (pictured).

[80] On 24 March 2011, units from Carrier Strike Group Twelve disrupted a pirate attack on the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel MV Falcon Trader II.

[97] From 30 January to 12 February 2012, the group took part in Bold Alligator 2012, the largest amphibious assault exercise held on the east coast of the United States since 2002.

[109] In total, aircraft from Carrier Air Wing One flew 9,875 sorties, of which 2,241 were combat missions, while the Enterprise made ten transits through the Strait of Hormuz.

[110] On the evening of 8 August 2013, the guided-missile destroyer James E. Williams rescued ten mariners from a burning Iranian-flagged dhow (pictured) while operating in the Gulf of Oman.

[112] On 12 August 2012, at 1:00 a.m. local time, the guided-missile destroyer Porter collided with the Panamanian-flagged, Japanese-owned oil tanker MV Otowasan near the Strait of Hormuz.

[107][113][114] The collision ripped a large hole in Porter's starboard side above the waterline, forcing her to put into Jebel Ali, Dubai, for inspection and repairs.

[115] On 4 November, Enterprise returned to Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia, after steaming 80,968 nautical miles (149,953 km; 93,176 mi) during its seven-and-a-half-month deployment.

[137] On 22 October 2012, the Department of Defense announced that Rear Admiral Kevin Kovacich was selected to take command of Carrier Strike Group Twelve.

[139] Theodore Roosevelt returned to Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia, on 29 August 2013, completing its post-overhaul sea trials that concluded its four-year mid-life Refueling and Complex Overhaul.

[143] On 15 January 2014, Theodore Roosevelt departed Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, for carrier qualifications prior to undertaking the group pre-deployment exercise.

This three-week-long series of exercises test the strike group's ability to perform as an integrated formation within real-world scenarios prior to departing for its upcoming 2015 overseas deployment.

[153] While en route, on 21 March 2015, the cruiser Normandy recovered more than 1,000 pounds of illegal narcotics after an MH-60 Seahawk from its squadron HSM-46 detachment spotted a small craft dumping large packages into the water (pictured).

[144] On 28 April 2015, Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol craft intercepted and seized the Marshall Islands container cargo ship MV Maersk Tigris while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

On 23 November 2015, the strike group's flagship, USS Theodore Roosevelt, arrived at its new homeport, NAS North Island in San Diego, California, completing its eight-and-a-half-month long world cruise.

[191] On 8 October 2023, the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, directed the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean "to bolster regional deterrence efforts.