America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

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On 10 April, 1970, AMERICA and Air Wing Nine departed Norfolk for a second Western Pacific deployment. Upon her arrival in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, the 77,000 ton carrier became flagship for the Seventh Fleet Attack Carrier Striking Force. She then began operating on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin, where she launched strike missions over Southeast Asia. One significant bombing sor- ' tie resulted in destruction of the Thanh Hoa bridge, a vital link in the Viet Cong supply line from North Vietnam. For this superb wartime performance, both AMERICA and Air Wing Nine were awarded the Meritorious Unit Commenda- tion. In July, 1971, after a six month overhaul, upkeep and training period, AMERICA left Norfolk for a third Mediterra- nean deployment. A particular emphasis of this cruise was joint operations with allied navies. These exercises were particularly successful and the ship ' s aircraft safety record was accident-free. AMERICA returned in December, 1971 and six months later was en route to her third combat deployment to South- east Asia. She was one of the four aircraft carriers on Yan- kee Station the day that the Viet Nam Peace Agreement went into effect. AMERICA returned to Norfolk on 24 March, 1973, within one week of the final prisoner of war release and after nearly 300 days away from homeport. AMERICA was awarded her second Meritorious Unit Com- mendation during this cruise. After a maintenance, upkeep and pre-deployment period, AMERICA sailed on her fourth deployment to the Mediterra- nean in early January, 1974. The ship was delayed from returning due to the deteriorating political situation on Cy- prus. She finally arrived in Norfolk on 3 August, 1974, after completing more than 8,600 launches without an accident. Top left: The crew of MISS AMERICA congratulates each other after making 66,000th trap on AMERICA. Top right: Shirley Cothran, Miss America, 1975 . . . rededicates AMERICA ' S C-1A MISS AMERICA . Left: Miss America USO show aboard AMERICA, 1970. 21

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Top: AMERICA receives Admiral Flatley award, 1969. Above: An AMERICA first . . . Capt. and Mrs. T. W. Kaugher, CISMC, marry July, 1969. 20

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After a brief period of leave and upkeep in Norfolk, AMERICA returned to sea on 6 September, 1974, to partici- pate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exer- cise Northern Merger . Naval and shore units from nine of the NATO countries participated in the two-week exercises which included a port visit to Portsmouth, England. Following an 1 1 month shipyard period, AMERICA em- barked on her fifth Mediterranean deployment on 15 April, 1976. An early accomplishment of this deployment was the aid provided by the ship in the evacuation of American and foreign nationals during the civil conflict in Lebanon. Return- ing from this deployment in October, 1976, AMERICA spent a three-month shipyard period in Portsmouth, Virginia. On 10 June, 1977, the ship led a five-ship task group that deployed to South America. During this five-week period, AMERICA and other ships of the task group conducted exercises with units of the Brazilian Navy. This marked the first time in history that Brazilian aircraft operated from the deck of an American carrier. September 29, 1977, saw AMERICA leaving Norfolk for her sixth Mediterranean deployment. The cruise included intensive flight operations, participation in the annual NATO National Week XXI fleet exercises and port visits to Italy, Spain and Yugoslavia. AMERICA returned to her Norfolk homeport in late April, 1978. After a three month overhaul period and pre-deployment training, AMERICA again embarked Carrier Air Wing Elev- en, a west coast air wing, and departed Norfolk on her tenth extended deployment in March of 1979. She conducted operations with assets of the Sixth Fleet and NATO, and returned to Norfolk in September, 1979. Shortly after return- ing, AMERICA conducted initial carrier qualifications for the F A-18 Hornet. In November, 1979, AMERICA once again steamed into the Norfolk Shipyard for an extensive overhaul period. This overhaul lasted more than eleven months and cost over three hundred million dollars. Installation of new combat equipment and overhaul of the engineering plant was para- mount. Some of the major installations included the NATO Sea Sparrow Missle system, PHALANX Close In Weapons system, Tactical Flag Command Center and a sophisticated Carrier Air Traffic Control and Display system. Naval aviation history was made aboard AMERICA on 14 January, 1981 . Ensign Brenda Robinson, (JSNR, piloting a C- 1 A carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft, became the first black female aviator to become carrier qualified. After a series of qualification landings, Ensign Robinson made an arrested landing on the flight deck and received congratula- tions from the Commanding Officer, Captain Rene W Leeds, USN. After successful type training in the Caribbean and an outstanding performance during the Operational Readiness Exam, AMERICA made final preparations for her eleventh deployment; her first dedicated to Indian Ocean operations. 22 :? 9