Carrier Air Wing Five

Carrier Air Wing Five
Lineup	February 15, 1943
Country	United States
Armed forces	United States Navy
Strength	approx. 2,500 people
Location	Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)

The Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) is a squadron ( Carrier Air Wing ) of the US Navy . It is stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan , making it the only squadron outside the United States, as the Reagan's home port is the Japanese port city of Yokosuka . Unique in the history of all Carrier Air Wings is that the CVW-5 served as a base for the USS Midway for twenty years from 1971 to 1991.

history

Second World War

The squadron was formed in 1943 as Carrier Air Group Five (CVG-5) at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia, and assigned to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) . During World War II, the squadron was used from August 1943 to March 1945 only in the Pacific theater from the carriers Yorktown and Franklin . On March 19, 1945, fire and explosions destroyed most of the squadron's aircraft when two 250 kg bombs hit the Franklin .

Post War and Korean War

Skyraider attacking North Korean positions in 1950

After the war, CVG-5 was stationed in San Diego and operated in the western Pacific region. In 1947 the squadron operated from the Shangri-La carrier . The first landings of a jet aircraft on an aircraft carrier flew FJ-1 Fury fighters of the squadron on the Boxer on March 10, 1948. As the first US Navy squadron, VF-51 received the F9F-2 Panther jet fighters as part of the CVG-5 , the first fully operational jet in the Navy. In June 1950, the squadron was on a regular mission with the Valley Forge and anchored in Hong Kong when the Korean War broke out. Eight days after the outbreak of war, the CVG-5 flew its first missions on July 3, 1950. The deployment should last 18 months, the longest deployment time of any carrier squadron. In addition to two missions on the Valley Forge in 1950/51 and 1952/53, the squadron made another 1951/52 with the carrier Essex .

From 1954 to 1964, the squadron remained stationed in the Western Pacific and was deployed on the carriers Philippine Sea , Kearsarge , Bon Homme Richard and Ticonderoga . From July to September 1962 CVG-5 was distributed in the Atlantic to the carriers Lexington and Constellation , before the latter took the squadron back to the Pacific. In 1963 all Navy squadrons were renamed, so Carrier Air Group 5 became Carrier Air Wing 5 on December 20.

Vietnam war

CVW-5 aircraft aboard USS Ticonderoga in 1966

In 1963 the squadron was assigned to the Ticonderoga . This was before Vietnam in August 1964 when the so-called Tonkin incident occurred. As a result, CVW-5 aircraft attacked North Vietnamese speedboats and their bases on the 2nd and 4th / 5th. August 1964. This was the beginning of the actual Vietnam War . In total, CVW-5 made eight trips in the Vietnam War between 1964 and 1973 on the carriers Ticonderoga , Hancock , Bon Homme Richard and Midway .

A-7E aboard the USS Midway

The squadron remained associated with the carrier Midway from 1971 until it was decommissioned in 1991. From 1972 CVW-5 was the first US Navy squadron to be stationed outside the United States. The new home base was NAF Atsugi in Honshu, Japan, while the Midway was stationed in Yokusoka. The squadron spent the following years with Midway on several missions in the West and North Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. 1974 to 1984 CVW-5 were the only squadron of the US Navy reconnaissance aircraft type RF-4B Phantom II of the squadron VMCJ-1 (later VMFP-3) of the US Marine Corps .

Second Gulf War

CVW-5 began its last deployment on the Midway in October 1990 as part of Operation Desert Shield . From November 1990 to January 1991, the squadron took part in multinational exercises and operated continuously in the Persian Gulf. Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991 , with planes from the squadron making night raids deep in Iraq. For the next 43 days the squadron flew 3,383 combat missions and consumed more than 1,800 tons of ammunition.

1991 until today

In 2005 an F / A-18C ( CAG Bird of VFA-192) takes off from the USS Kitty Hawk

In August 1991 the squadron transferred to the Independence . Stationed for the first time on a "large" aircraft carrier, F-14 Tomcat and S-3 Viking aircraft could now also be used. In this composition it took part in Operation Southern Watch in 1992 . On July 6, 1998, the Kitty Hawk took the role of the aircraft carrier stationed in Japan and took over the CVW-5.

In 2001/02 the Kitty Hawk took part in Operation Enduring Freedom , although only part of the squadron was embarked on the carrier, as the carrier served as a base for helicopters of the US Marine Corps and the US Army . The remaining squadrons operated for four months from Bahrain, Guam, Okinawa, Diego Garcia, Singapore and MCAS Iwakuni (Japan). In total, the squadron flew over 600 sorties over Afghanistan during this time. Until 2005 there were further missions in the Persian Gulf, since then regular missions have followed in the western Pacific.

On May 28, 2008, the Kitty Hawk left Japan to be decommissioned. On August 21, 2008, the George Washington CVW-5 took over in San Diego, California. In August 2015, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) again released the George Washington and the squadron changed carriers again.

Task and composition

The CVW-5 sits currently four fighter-bomber squadrons ( Strike Fighter Squadron VFA), a squadron of electronic warfare ( Carrier Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron , VAQ), an early warning Season ( Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAW), a department in support of the Fleet logistics ( Fleet Logistic Support Squadron , VRC) as well as two helicopter squadrons for submarine hunting and air rescue ( Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron , HSC; Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron, HSM) together and can thus cover all areas of carrier-supported air warfare.

CVW-5 2012 aircraft

The US Navy has had a fixed system for identifying squadrons or squadrons ( Visual Identification System for Naval Aircraft ) since 1945 . Initially, this consisted of geometric patterns on the tail unit. However, since these were difficult to remember or to describe, letters were introduced as early as June 1945 to distinguish the squadrons. CVG-5 was assigned the letter "S". In 1957 the individual letters were replaced by doubles. In general, the squadrons of the Atlantic Fleet have an "A" as the first letter and those of the Pacific Fleet an "N". The Carrier Air Wing FIVE can be recognized by the code ( tail code ) NF . The individual squadrons of the squadron are numbered in increments of 100, the aircraft of the squadron commander ( Commander, Air Group (CAG) ) can be recognized by the tactical number ending in "00". CAG is currently Captain Michael E. Boyle, and its representative (DCAG) is Captain William S. Koyama.

The Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) currently (2015) includes the following squadrons:

A VA-195 Hornet lands on the George Washington in August 2008

tactical number	Season	Aircraft type	Nickname	Radio callsign
from 100	VFA-102	Boeing F / A-18F Super Hornet	Diamondbacks	Diamond / Diamondback / Snake
From 200	VFA-27	Boeing F / A-18E Super Hornet	Royal Maces	Mace
from 300	VFA-115	Boeing F / A-18E Super Hornet	Eagles	Eagle / Talon
from 400	VFA-195	Boeing F / A-18E Super Hornet	Dambusters	Chippy
from 500	VAQ-141	Boeing EA-18G Growler	Shadowhawks
from 600	VAW-115	Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000 NP	Liberty Bells	Liberty
from 610	HSC-12	Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk	Golden Falcons
from 700	HSM-77	Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk	Sabrehawks
xx	VRC-30 Det. 5	Grumman C-2A Greyhound NP	Providers	Password

References

1. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/pdf/app15.pdf
2. ^ Stefan Terzibaschitsch : aircraft carrier of the US Navy. Vol. 1 Fleet Aircraft Carrier. 2. revised Aufl., Koblenz 1986. pp. 348-352
3. ↑ http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-NF1f.html
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-NF2f.html
6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated August 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ CNIC USS Ronald Reagan Arrives in Japan to Support Security, Stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region (Engl.), US Navy press release NNS151001-01 of October 1, 2015
9. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/APP23.PDF
10. ↑ http://www.cnic.navy.mil/Atsugi/About/TenantCommands/CVW-5/index.htm
11. ↑ CombatEdgeProductions.vom / CVW-5
12. ↑ http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-NF6f.html

Web links

• CVW-5 website
• CVW-5 on Globalsecurity.org