• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Carl Vinson Conducts Carrier Qualifications

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS131206-24
Release Date: 12/6/2013 2:59:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice James Bleyle, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs

USS CARL VINSON, At Sea (NNS) -- Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) departed Naval Air Station North Island, Dec. 3, to provide carrier take-off and landing training for fleet replacement aviators and facilitate squadron carrier qualifications.

Naval aviators from CVW-9, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), and Marine Corps aviators from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 101, assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., joined Carl Vinson for flight operations training over a short underway period.

'A by-product of CVW-9 and VMFAT-101 being here is that the crew of the Carl Vinson is receiving training as well,' said Master Chief Avionics Technician (AW/SW) Mike Baker, CVW-9 maintenance master chief petty officer. 'Any flight ops are good flight ops, so in helping us train, Carl Vinson Sailors are getting valuable experiences as well.'

During carrier qualifications a pilot has time to develop and hone the demanding skills needed to take off and land fixed wing aircraft on an aircraft carrier.

'We haven't had prolonged flight operations in a long time and having aircraft launched and recovered is pretty important to get Carl Vinson ready for deployment,' said Chief Air Traffic Controller (AW/SW) Eric Gravely, assigned to Operations Department's carrier air traffic control center.

Some Marine Corps squadrons are assigned to a carrier air wing. For aviators not in those squadrons, Marine Corps Capt. Cory Kuhn, a pilot with VMFAT-101, explained the purpose of carrier qualifications.

'Carriers provide Marine Corps pilots assigned to land-based commands with another option for landing safely in case the original airstrip becomes compromised in some way,' said Kuhn. 'But that option is only available if a pilot is trained how to land on one.'

The pilots temporarily assigned to train with Carl Vinson have all had extensive training before coming aboard, said Baker.

'They were already naval aviators; we're just helping them qualify to make landings in their arrested aircraft, such as F/A-18 Super Hornets and E2C Hawkeyes,' Baker said.
Since Navy and Marine aviators use the same type of jet, Marine aircraft are already compatible with Carl Vinson's landing systems, said Gravely.

Gravely believes Carl Vinson benefits when conducting carrier qualifications with aircrew from different services and from different carrier air wings.

'We can all compare how Carl Vinson works as opposed to John C. Stennis and can apply some of their unique procedures here, and vice versa,' said Gravely.

That double benefit during carrier qualifications isn't lost on the visiting crew.

'We are here to qualify pilots, but we are also helping to ensure that when the resident air wing comes on board, Carl Vinson's air crew will be ready,' Baker said.