SAN DIEGO -- About 200 sailors returned home to San Diego Monday from a five-month deployment to Southeast Asia.

The guided-missile frigate USS Jarrett pulled into San Diego Harbor shortly after 8:30 a.m. to a crowd of giddy loved ones.

Along with four other U.S. Navy ships, the Jarrett participated in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, or CARAT, exercise in the waters off Southeast Asia.

The exercise included maritime interdiction drills, search and seizure operations, anti-submarine warfare and helicopter landing operations.

According to the Navy, the goal of CARAT was to enhance regional cooperation, promote better understanding of how military forces work and improve operational readiness.

The ship visited six countries and conducted bilateral exercises with the navies of the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, according to the Navy. Jarrett also made a port stop in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, where its crew participated in more than 30 community projects.