America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

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Commander Carrier Group Four I-QQ' Rear Admiral .2222-'7 . V james B. Linder 2 ' ' -,.. In The organization currently known as Commander Carrier Group FOUR was first activated as Carrier Division FOUR on 12 March 1943 as an element of the FIFTH Fleet in the Pacific. The staff saw extensive action throughout the Second World War aboard some of the most famous aircraft carriers to come out of the Pacific Theater: USS BUNKER HILL ICV-171, USS INTREPID ICV-III, USS INDEPENDENCE ICVL-223, USS FRANKLIN, USS CABOT ICVL-281, and USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN ICV-391. Carrier Division FOUR was a major participant in the Marshall Islands campaign, the Battle of Leyte C-ulfg the battle off Cape Engano, in which planes from the USS INTREPID sunk the japanese aircraft car- riers ZUIHO, ZUIKAKO, and CHIYODA: the Doolittle raids on Tokyo, the sinking of the battleship YAMATO: and the battle of Okinawa in the final drive towards the defeat of the japanese. In recent years the staff has concen- trated in two specific areas of carrier op- erations: the training and preparation of Atlantic Fleet aircraft carriers for deploy- ment, and the actual operational employment of the carriers in deploy- ment to the Mediterranean SIXTH Fleet. At one time or another the command has become involved with the training or op- eration of every carrier assigned to the At- lantic Fleet, ranging from the World War II ships USS SHANGRI-LA and USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT to the nu- clear carriers ENTERPRISE and NIMITZ. The Commander and his staff partici- pated actively during the Dominican crisis of 1961, the Greek-Turkish tensions of-1967 and the middle-east crises of 1967 and 1972. In the areas of new de- velopments, the command was involved with the introduction of the SH-3 helicop- ter into the fleet, the Interim Sea Control xx I2 2545

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4.44. I I ' ' Carrier Air Wing SIX was originally commissioned as Carrier Air Group 17 on 1 Ianuary 1943 at NAS Norfolk, Virginia. CVC-17 participated in combat operations in the Pacific during World War II against Rabaul, the Gilbert Islands, New Ireland, Marshall Islands, Truk, and the Mariannas aboard USS BUNKER HILL. CVG-17 again deployed in 1945, this time aboard USS HORNET and participated in missions against Iwo lima, Tokyo, Chichi Jima, Okinawa, and Kyushu. For actions during World War II, CVO-17 was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations. CVC-17 was redesignated as CVBG-17 and CVGB-5 before finally becoming the present Carrier Air Wing SIX on 27 july 1948. In late 1962, CVW-6 participated in the quarantine of Cuba aboard USS ENTERPRISE and in 1964 took part in Opera- tion Sea Orbit aboard ENTERPRISE. This was the around-the- world cruise of the Navy's three nuclear powered surface ships ENTERPRISE, LONG BEACH and BAINBRIDGE. V1 ' N . .5 ,kj .4-,,, , ., . , , ,f Ta.: -' f 1L1-4. ...if ,af 45.7 aff A I ilh Y 'ini' Commander, Carrier Air Wing Six Commander C.E. Skip Armstrong, Ir. In 1965, CVW-6 was assigned to USS AMERICA and partici- pated in her first cruise, a deployment to the Mediterranean. A second cruise aboard AMERICA in 1967 put CVW-6 in the Med during the Greek Crisis and May-june Middle East Crisis which culminated in the USS LIBERTY affair and the Six Day War. In 1968, CVW-6 again deployed aboard AMERICA, this time to Southeast Asia for combat operations against North Vietnam. During 112 days of combat operations, Air Wing SIX dropped over 18000 tons of ordance logged one MIG-21 kill flew 11 081 combat sorties totaling 22 592 flight hours 40 per cent of which were flown at night. Following their successful combat cruise CVW-6 and USS AMERICA were awarded the Navy Unit Commendation. During their Med cruise of 1973 ROOSEVELT and CVW-6 were in the Mediterranean during the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War. CVW-6 was reassigned to USS AMERICA in Iuly 1975 and the composition of the Air Wing was changed. VA-15 and VA-87 transitioned from the A-7B to the A-7E and VA-176 traded in their A-6 -I s for updated A-6E s. VF-41 and VF-84 were replaced by iff-142 and VE-143 flying the F-14A and VAW-121 was ref l I V QU by VAW-124 and their E-2C s. CVW-6 also gained three ni in gnu orons I-IS-15 flying Sl-I-3H 5 VS-28 flying the new 9 M s and VAO-137 flying the EA-68. CVW-6 departed Pier 12 n I5 April 1976 as one of the newest and mightiest Air Wings -fi r assembled. 27 I I I I I I l l All , f lid 1 I A I X '55 Y- O of ' I ,tn .J Gs. , X 'W I I Q ' C1 , 1 I D Jr , 1 O J . 1 3' S ,1 I 'N' . 12621. ff: - ' 'luv V- 'I .. ?7-517'-il' -i3T'5E6w..b

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1-E9ll?lll?'f5lllli':fEii1,iii-1? .. Ship Evaluation aboard USS GUAM and introduction of the new F-14 Tomcat fighter, the E-2C Hawkeye early warn- ing aircraft and the all jet S-3A Viking anti-submarine carrier aircraft to the At- lantic Fleet aboard USS JOHN F. KEN- NEDY in 1975. On 1 july 1973 the name of the staff was changed from Carrier Division FOUR to Carrier Group FOUR. At the present time Commander Carrier Group FOUR maintains administrative command of four Atlantic Fleet carriers: USS IN- DEPENDENCE, USS AMERICA, USS IOHN F. KENNEDY and USS NIMITZ. Thus, the commander has at his disposal an extremely potent arsenal to fulfill whatever mission may be assigned to him over, on or under the sea. The aircraft carrier remains the primary element of defense for this country on the high seas throughout the world. Carrier Group FOUR remains today, as it was in 1943, a major element in the total defense pos- ture of the United States. All is not paperwork and decision-Making: an occasional hop in AMERICA aircraft or a light-hearted farewell dinner break the routine g..t, I