Stupid questions with me the writer of the post.

Alright so to preface this, I’m a 14 year old girl and both of my older brothers(in their 20s) are in the military. We aren’t close at all! (The older one and I drifted when he moved because of work and the other I have some personal issues with) We all talk maybe once or twice every year so we are all pretty in the dark about each other’s lives. I just learned that he’s been out to sea for awhile. I’d like to think I’m pretty well educated for a 14 year old, but when it comes to the military, I’m lost. So here it goes, here’s my embarrassingly stupid question:

What the heck does out to sea mean? Is it the same as being deployed?

I know this is common knowledge for most, and I grew up in a navy town so I should probably know this but I’ve got no idea whether or not it’s a saying and to imagine my brother at a shipyard in japan or something or I should take it literally and imagine my brother on a boat in the middle of the pacific. I know that someone seeing this is laughing because it is kinda funny when you think about it. It’s like the smallest thing but it’s been bothering me for about 4 hours and I can’t think of anything else.