The carrier finished a historic deployment that lasted nearly a year, and thousands of sailors came home with it. When Parker learned his tour would stretch beyond six months, his mindset shifted.
"The day they told us that we were getting extended and we were going to Fifth Fleet to continue operations in Iran. Yeah, it was game time," he said.
Life aboard the carrier demanded everything from everybody. "It was work, work, work. Always working. There was never a day off," Parker said.
The distance cost him. "It broke my heart because I had two buddies that just had babies, and I couldn't see them," he said.
Back in San Diego, his family waited alongside a thousand others hoping to see loved ones from the ship. His mother, Natalie Medellin, said the reunion was emotional and a day she will never forget.
The biggest change she sees in him is confidence.