America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS AMERICA (CV 66) OPERATION DESERT STORM CHRONOLOGY -1991- 09 January: AMERICA transits the Straits of Gibraltar and arrives in the Mediterranean Sea. 15 January: AMERICA arrives at Port Said, Egypt, and transits through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea. The United Nations deadline for Iraqi forces to leave Kuwait expires. 17 January: Operation Desert Shield becomes Desert Storm as U.S. - led coalition forces take to the skies to bomb strategic military targets in Iraq such as airfields, communications, command control, chemical, nuclear, and biological warfare facilities. AMERICA provides Combat Air Patrol (CAP) coverage for the carriers in the Red Sea. 19 January: AMERICA launches its first air strike of the war against an ammunition depot north of Baghdad. 20 January: AMERICA’S first night strike is aimed at Iraq's ability to fuel its military machine with an early morning attack against an oil production facility. 26 January: AMERICA flies the first of four bridge strikes. All attacks, flown between 26 January and 24 February, are aimed at destroying bridges that Saddam Hussein could use to reinforce his troops in occupied Kuwait. 31 January: The focus of the air war changes as AMERICA flies into the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations with strikes against Iraqi military forces in occupied Kuwait. 01 February: VAW-123 coordinates aircraft on the first of 11 Scud missile patrols flown from 1 February to 7 February. On 3 February, AMERICA confirms the destruction of two Scud-related vehicles. 03 February: CVVV-1 pilots embark on the first of nine strikes aimed at fixed-positions of Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard. 08 February: Captain Kent W. Ewing assumes command from 1 i Rtf :tC sn: tab MR 3 Ilf liF UF 3Q bed at SF 8 31 is 1

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HISTORY Carrier Air Wing One Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1) has been in commission longer than any other Navy Air Wing. Since commissioning on June 4, 1934, CVW-1 has served aboard 19 different carriers, made 39 deployments, and had a majority of the East Coast squadrons as members of the Navy’s “First and Foremost.” CVW-1 was originally “The Ranger Air Group” and served aboard USS RANGER (CV-4) during the early days of carrier aviation. CVW-1 also operated aboard the three other carriers in commission at that time: USS LANGLEY (CV-1), USS LEXINGTON (CV-2), and USS SARATOGA (CV-3). During World War II, Air Wing One participated in the North African campaign and operated in all parts of the Atlantic. In 1943, the Air Wing was redesignated CVG-4 and transferred to the Pacific Fleet. Serving aboard ESSEX and BUNKER HILL, the Air Wing saw action against Japan from the Philippines to Tokyo, earning two Presidential Unit Citations in addition to having nurtured many naval aviation heroes. After the war, CVG-4 was reformed in California, reassigned to the East Coast, and redesignated CVG-1. Between 1946 and 1957, CVG-1 served aboard nine different carriers. During the 1956-57 Suer crisis, the Air Wing was aboard the first supercarrier, USS FORRESTAL, which operated in the Western Atlantic, and then completed a deployment in support of Allied forces in the Mediterranean. The Air Wing made five Mediterranean deployments aboard USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT between 1959-65. In 1962, the Air Wing was temporarily assigned to USS ENTERPRISE for her shakedown cruise and fleet review for President John F. Kennedy. The Air Wing made a WESTPAC deployment aboard USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT and conducted combat operations off the coast of Vietnam between June 1966 and February 1967. In 1967, CVW-1 was assigned to USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67). They made eight deployments to the Mediterranean, including operations during the 1970 Jordanian crisis and the 1973 Arab Israeli War. Since 1971, the Air Wing staff has been homeported at NAS Oceana, Virginia. Deployed to the Mediterranean in 1975, aboard USS JOHN F. KENNEDY’, the Air Wing brought to those waters the Navy’s newest tactical aircraft, the F-14A Tomcat air-superiority fighter and the S-3A Viking anti-sub-marine warfare aircraft. In late 1977, CVW-1 participated in the operational trials of USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN-69). The CVW-l USS JOHN F. KENNEDY’ deployment of 1980-81 was a hallmark of aviation safety. After eight months of intensive operations, the Wing returned home with all aircraft, without a serious injury, and with a record sortie completion rate. In August 1982, CVW-1 deployed with USS AMERICA for a 21 .• month North Atlantic operation. During this period, the Air Wing participated in the NATO exercise Northern Wedding ’82 as well as a short period of time in the Mediterranean in support of U.S. forces in Lebanon. On December 8. 1982, CVW-1 deployed with AMERICA for a 176-day Mediter-ranean Indian Ocean deployment. They returned on June 2,1983. On October 26. 1983, CVW-1 participated with AMERICA in a successful No Notice’’ exercise. deploying the entire Air Wing aboard AMERICA within an eight-day period. CVW-l’s 37th deployment to the Medi-terranean Indian Ocean began in April 1984 with participation in exercise Ocean Venture in the Gulf of Mexico. While deployed in the Med. CVW-1 participated in exercise Display Determination” with Italian, French. Turkish. Belgian, and U.S. Air Force units. The CVW-1 AMERICA team returned home in November of 1984. In 1985. CVW-1 deployed with AMERICA for the NATO exercise “Ocean Safari’’, journeying through the North Atlantic to Vestfjord. Norway. CVW-1 deployed to the Mediterranean Sea with AM ERICA in March 1986, carrying out successful combat air strikes again Libyan forces in March and April of that year. The CVW-l AMERICA team returned home on September 10. 1986. In January and February of 1987, CVW-1 completed the first major Air Wing operations aboard the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at the time. USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71). In February and March 1989, CVW-1 deployed with AMERICA for operations in the North Atlantic to Vestfjord, Norway. On May 10. 1989. CVW-1 deployed with AMERICA for a 183-day Indian Ocean Mediterranean cruise. They returned on November 10, 1989. 21

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Hoar Admiral (select) John J. Mazach in an informal ceremony conducted on the flight deck. AMERICA transits through the Straits of Bab el Mandeb to the Gulf of Aden en route to the Arabian Gulf and the other side of the war. 10 February: AMERICA has a Beer Day” during a Steel Beach Picnic, allowing crew members two beers each after 45 consecutive days at sea. 14 February: AMERICA transits the narrow Straits of Hormuz and arrives in the Arabian Gulf. 15 February: AMERICA becomes the first and only carrier to operate on both sides of the war when it joins three other U.S. aircraft carriers in the Arabian Gulf carrier box. 16 February: AMERICA spots and destroys an Iraqi floating mine inside the aircraft carriers operational area. This would be the first of a total of four mines discovered while operating in the Arabian Gulf. 20 February: AMERICA is host to the combat press pool. VS-32 destroys an armed Iraqi patrol boat, thus becoming the first S-3 squadron to successfully engage, bomb, and destroy a hostile surface vessel. 23 February: Aircraft from the AMERICA destroy a Silkworm (anti-ship) missile battery after Iraq unsuccessfully fired a missile at the USS MISSOURI (BB 63). During all of CVW-l's strikes into the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations. AMERICA destroyed approximately 387 armored vehicles and tanks. 28 February: Coalition forces cease hostile offensive action after successfully liberating Kuwait and destroying Iraq’s ability to wage war. Iraq submits a letter to the United Nations accept -ing all 12 U.N. resolutions concerning Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait. The end to hostilities was called by President Bush only 42 days after the war began, and exactly two months after AMERICA departed Norfolk. Virginia. 04 March: AMERICA departs the Arabian Gulf and returns to the Red Sea after conducting 3,008 combat sorties during the war. 09 March: AMERICA arri -es on-station in the Red Sea. 16 March: AMERICA arrives in the Red Sea port of Mur ghada, Egypt, and makes the first port call of the deployment after 78 consecutive days at sea. 03 April: Homeward bound. AMERICA transits the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea. 11 April: The United Nations declares the official end to the Gulf War. 24 February: The ground assault into Iraq and Kuwait begins as AMERICA provides close air support for coalition troops. 23