Coming home after a long deployment can bring its own challenges. What an expert says you can do to help

The homecoming hugs are often the part people see. The adjustment that follows can be less visible. After the USS Abraham Lincoln returned to the United States following an unusually long deployment, the experience highlighted the strain that extended time away can place on sailors and their families. The ship spent more than 300 consecutive days overseas, including 286 days without a regular port call. At Naval Station Mayport, deployment support specialist Kelly Stull and clinical counselor Susan Schanen help sailors and families prepare for reunions and navigate the transition home. “There’s a lot of trepidation,” Stull said. “How’s this going to go? How long have they been gone? What have they gone through? ... Is my sailor going to have an adjustment period? Are the kids going to be welcoming?” Families change while sailors are away Stull, a Navy spouse of 21 years whose husband is a retired senior chief, said her family’s longest deployment lasted a year. Their younger son had ju