With fighter jets on its massive deck and thousands of sailors, airmen, and crew aboard, the Nimitz will glide into Pearl Harbor on Wednesday for a brief stay in the islands.

The carrier is en route to the western Pacific. It left its home port of San Diego on May 7.

The visit comes as the Pentagon mulls whether to homeport one of its 12 aircraft carriers in either Hawa'ii or Guam. Top Navy officials have said they want to move one of the ships, which often play a key role in responding to crises worldwide, from the mainland to aid a rapid response to potential security threats in the Asia-Pacific region.

Though Guam is closer to Asia, Hawai'i's established network of roads, schools, and utilities may give the state an advantage in the competition to be host.

Hawaii's congressional delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye, has actively campaigned to bring an aircraft carrier to the islands.

Six of the Navy's carriers are currently based on the East Coast, five are home-ported on the West Coast, and one is assigned to Japan.

The basing of an aircraft carrier, and its thousands of crew and their families, in Hawai'i could boost the state's economy. But it may also strain the state's tight housing supply and school system.

Any aircraft carrier stationed in Hawai'i would most likely be based in Pearl Harbor.

Commissioned in 1975, the Nimitz leads a battle group of 11 ships, including the USS Princeton guided missile cruiser accompanying it to Hawai'i. It hosts 8 air squadrons of fighter jets, spy planes, helicopters, among other aircraft. The ship flew more than 6,500 missions during the Iraq war.

It's 4.5-acre flight deck makes the Nimitz and the eight other ships in the same class of vessels the largest warships in the world.