Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Team Carl Vinson Reaches 10,000th Launch, Recovery Milestone



By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Travis Alston, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Public Affairs

USS CARL VINSON, At Sea (NNS) -- The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 recently launched and recovered the 10,000th aircraft of the current deployment.

An Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 116 "Sun Kings" E-2 Hawkeye completed the 10,000th launch; a Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81 "Sun Liners" F/A-18F completed the 10,000th arrested landing.

"Ten thousand launches and arrested recoveries is a significant milestone for this crew," said Capt. Karl Thomas, Carl Vinson's commanding officer.

"What is truly amazing is the full availability of four catapults and four arresting wires every day for the duration of an extended deployment. It was truly a great job by all involved."

Thomas also expressed his gratitude to the pilots and Sailors assigned to CVW 17 during a daily 1MC announcement to the crew.

"The ship and air wing mission go hand-in-hand," said Thomas. "We can't get 10,000 traps without the air wing involved. The coordinated efforts of the ship and air wing are what made this milestone possible.

It's not just air department; it's navigation, it's reactor, engineering and supply; you name the department, everyone had a part in what we did to make this happen."

Carl Vinson is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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