SAN DIEGO -- The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and five ships in its strike group along with about 5,500 sailors returned to San Diego Tuesday following a six-month deployment.

Arriving Tuesday morning along with the Reagan were the guided-missile cruiser Chancellorsville, guided-missile frigate Thach and guided-missile destroyers Decatur, Gridley and Howard.

The aircraft carrier's arrival was met with cheers at Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado by family members who were grateful the ship was arriving just in time for Thanksgiving.

"It's very special, you know," Courtney Cobb told 10News. "We get to spend time together."

While on deployment, the strike group provided humanitarian aid after Typhoon Fengshen struck the Philippines. It also took part in training exercise involving the navies of India, Brunei, Singapore and the Philippines.

Additionally, aircraft attached to the strike group -- both jet fighters and turboprop Hawkeyes, which act like an eye in the sky -- supported combat operations in Afghanistan during the deployment.

The Ronald Reagan, the Navy's newest Nimitz-class carrier, arrived at its home port in Coronado in 2004. The strike group left the San Diego area in May.