Military

Commander Carrier Air Wing ONE FIVE (COMCAR AIRWING-15)

Commander Carrier Air Wing ONE FIVE (COMCAR AIRWING-15) Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 15, Fighter Squadron (VF) 51, Fighter Squadron (VF) 111 and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 11, were all disestablishmed 31 March 1995. Surviving squadrons were directly attached to their type commands or were reassigned to other carrier air wings.

Combat milestones for the air wing during World War II included most planes shot down by any naval air group (318); most aircraft destroyed on the ground by any naval air group (348); most aircraft destroyed in one day (68); most enemy aircraft destroyed by a section of two planes in one mission (15); and most enemy aircraft destroyed by one pilot on a single mission (9).

Early in the Vietnam War, the Johnson administration reacted vigorously to Viet Cong mortaring of an American advisors', compound at Pleiku, South Vietnam, on 7 February 1965. Johnson ordered a one-time, "tit for tat" reprisal strike on enemy barracks in North Vietnam. That same day Coral Sea's Air Wing 15 and Hancock's Air Wing 21 conducted Flaming Dart I, a multiplane attack on Dong Hoi. In April 1971, VMA(AW)-224 deployed aboard the USS Coral Sea with Carrier Air Wing 15, arriving at "Yankee Station" during December of that year. On 15 December 1971 VMA(AW)-224, part of Carrier Air Wing 15 on board Coral Sea, arrived on Yankee Station. VMA(AW)-224 was the first Marine Corps squadron to fly combat missions into NVN from a carrier operating on Yankee Station.

On 01 February 1990, Carl Vinson departed NAS Alameda for an extended Western Pacific deployment. The ship earned the battle Efficiency (Battle E). Embarking on the ship were COMCARGRU Three, DESRON Nine and Carrier Air Wing 15. During the transit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Carrier Air Wing 15 conducted carrier qualifications in Southern California operating areas. In 1991 Carrier Air Wing 15 brought the USS KITTY HAWK "Around the Horn" after its SLEP, Service Life Extension Program. During the mini cruise, exercises were flown with the Venezuelan and Argentine Air Force. In June 1994, CVW 15 began the 1994 WESTPAC deployment, which was their last cruise.