First in class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 'USS Freedom' has returned to homeport San Diego after deployment earlier this year to the U.S. 7th Fleet's area of responsibility. "This deployment was a huge success for the LCS program, for us as a crew, and for the Navy in general," said Cmdr. Dale Heinken, commanding officer of Freedom's Blue Crew. Deployed since March 1, 2013. with her "Gold Crew", known formally as Crew 102, the ship took part in a number of theater security cooperation and maritime presence operations with partner nations in the region.