In late 2014, following the completion of work up qualifications, "Nimitz" participated in her first deployment, a two-week multi-national fleet exercise involving the Third Fleet, as well as ships from the Royal Canadian Navy and JMSDF. Following the conclusion of the exercise, on 3 November the first F-35C Lightning II to land on an aircraft carrier recovered aboard "Nimitz" to begin a two-week Development Testing I deployment. This saw a pair of aircraft from VX-23 undertaking carrier operations of launch, recovery and handling aboard ship in both day and night conditions. The initial deployment was completed on 14 November 2014. In 2015, "Nimitz" transferred to Bremerton to undergo a 16-month maintenance cycle.