Family and friends gathered at Naval Base San Diego Monday for an emotional goodbye to the 4,500 sailors and Marines.
Three ships deployed as part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group: USS Essex, USS Anchorage and USS Rushmore.
The crews will first sail to Hawaii for training and then to the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf.
Amy Casten was in tears holding her one-year-old twins.
She and her husband who serves on USS Rushmore have been married for 10 years but this is the first time he's deployed after the birth of their children.
"When I didn't have kids, it wasn't so hard," she said. "But now that I have kids, it's gonna be tough."
One sailor was even seen talking on the phone to a woman in the family waiting area, having a conversation before leaving on the eight-month deployment.
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The family of Petty Officer First Class Joseph Gamez huddled around him before he left on the maiden voyage of USS Anchorage.
Gamez said he'll be thinking of his family for inspiration.
"That's the only thing that's going to get me through it, that's it," he said. "Thinking about coming back to my family."
"I mean this is my little boy right here I couldn't do without them," he said. "I'm pretty sure every sailor out here can't do without their family."
