USS Abraham Lincoln has finally reached American territory.

The carrier pulled into Guam Saturday, 302 days after beginning a deployment that has stretched far beyond the ordinary.

The Navy calls it a “brief logistics stop.”

Lincoln entered Apra Harbor with the guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. Sailors will get on-base liberty while the ships take on what they need for the next leg, according to the Navy.

For the men and women of Carrier Strike Group 3, Guam marks their first return to American territory in nine months.

They have earned the stop.

Lincoln spent nearly seven months operating in the Central Command theater and, at one point, went roughly 265 consecutive days without a port call. The carrier and Petersen finally broke that stretch with a visit to Thailand earlier this month.

One ship that had been traveling with them isn’t in Guam.

USS Robert Smalls has broken away from the group. The Japan-based cruiser returned to Yokosuka on Sept. 18, according the Navy.

Now Lincoln and Petersen are pointed east.

The Navy isn’t saying where Lincoln goes next. It says only that the strike group remains in the 7th Fleet area conducting routine operations.

Pearl Harbor would be a logical stop. Petersen is homeported there. After that, Lincoln’s homeport at North Island waits another 2,200 nautical miles to the east.

After 302 days, home is getting closer.