SAN DIEGO – The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan will leave May 19 for a six-month deployment with its air wing and five San Diego-based escort ships.

More than 7,000 sailors are scheduled to deploy. While the Navy typically doesn't reveal the destinations of its carrier strike groups, the deployments usually include time in the Persian Gulf.

The Reagan, the newest of the Navy's nine Nimitz-class carriers, will be accompanied by the cruiser Chancellorsville, the frigate Thach and the destroyers Decatur, Gridley and Howard.

Also joining the contingent will be Lemoore-based Carrier Air Wing 14. The air wing includes Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 and Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron 4, both from North Island Naval Air Station.

The Reagan is one of two carriers based at North Island. The second, the Nimitz, is due to return from its own Middle East deployment next month.

A third carrier, the Carl Vinson, is slated to join the Reagan and Nimitz in about two years.