In June 2016 we embarked aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) during the early phase of her Mediterranean deployment. From the violent deceleration of a first carrier trap aboard a C-2A Greyhound to the opening combat sorties of Carrier Air Wing Three against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, this report captures flight operations and daily life aboard one of the U.S. Navy’s most active carrier strike groups.
With our heads tightly secured inside our cranials, after several circuits around the ship in the marshal stack, we become aware that the C-2A Greyhound has begun a rapid descending turn. The aircraft banks decisively as it prepares to line up with the angled flight deck of the carrier below. We recall what Lt. Ramy “Spoosh” Ahmed of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron VRC-40 Rawhides told us during the briefing before our COD flight.
“You will experience a lot of power and brake, power and brake”, he had explained, referring to the continuous throttle corrections required during the final seconds of approach. “It lasts about fifteen seconds before touchdown”.
With those words still in mind we feel the COD beginning its final approach. The aircraft vibrates slightly as it descends toward the carrier. “Here we go, here we go”, shouts the aircrewman, preparing the passengers for the arrested landing.
Through the small port-side window we suddenly catch a glimpse of something grey rushing up to meet us. A fraction of a second later there is a sharp impact followed by violent deceleration as the arresting wire grabs the aircraft. At the same moment the pilot pushes the engines to full power in case the hook fails to catch the cable. The entire sequence lasts only an instant, but the sensation is unmistakable: we have just experienced our first trap aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, deployed in the Mediterranean Sea slightly east of Sardinia.
Lt. Ahmed, born in Melbourne, Florida, joined the U.S. Navy twelve years earlier after watching the film Top Gun as a child. After completing his college degree and the various stages of flight training he became a T-45C Goshawk instructor pilot before transitioning to the C-2A Greyhound three years prior to this deployment. Reflecting on the most challenging arrested landing of his career, Ahmed recalls a particularly demanding approach in the Pacific. “We were at about one hundred feet with no visibility”, he says. “We saw the ship only three seconds before touchdown. It was continuous adjustments – power, brake, power, brake”.
During a previous deployment he also had the opportunity to land aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. According to Ahmed the procedure is essentially the same as landing on a U.S. carrier. “You focus on the lights and the runway and nothing else”, he explains with a smile. “But French people speaking English can be hard to understand”.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group departed Norfolk on June 1, 2016 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth and Sixth Fleet areas of responsibility. In addition to the nuclear-powered carrier itself, the formation included the guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto and USS Monterey together with the destroyers USS Stout, USS Roosevelt, USS Mason and USS Nitze, supported at sea by the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Arctic. Altogether the deployment involved roughly 7,100 sailors.
The Ike strike group also marked the first operational deployment conducted under the Navy’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan, introduced to balance operational demands with maintenance cycles and crew readiness. On June 8 the carrier entered the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of responsibility and five days later transited the Strait of Gibraltar to begin operations in the Mediterranean.
Rear Adm. Jesse A. Wilson Jr., commander of Carrier Strike Group 10 since December 2015, noted during a conversation on the flight deck that it had become increasingly rare to see two U.S. carrier strike groups operating simultaneously in the Mediterranean. At the time the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group was also present in the region following its own extended combat deployment.
Commanding officer of the carrier was Capt. Paul C. Spedero Jr., a graduate and former instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN. Over the course of his career Spedero had accumulated more than 3,700 flight hours and approximately 850 carrier arrested landings flying several types of naval aircraft, including the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet. His operational experience included combat missions during Operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom while deployed aboard several U.S. Navy carriers.
During the deployment the Ike Carrier Strike Group also played a central role in the U.S. Navy’s Great Green Fleet initiative for the second half of 2016, a programme intended to demonstrate the operational potential of alternative fuels while reducing dependence on traditional energy sources. Similar efforts were underway within allied navies, including the Italian Navy’s Flotta Verde programme, and cooperation between the two services had been formalised through an agreement signed in 2014.
On June 16 ships of the strike group participated in a multi-day passing exercise with Italian naval units. One of the most notable events was a replenishment-at-sea operation involving the Italian fleet oiler ITS Etna and the destroyer USS Mason. During the evolution more than 15,000 gallons of advanced biofuel were transferred to the U.S. warship in what marked the first time a U.S. Navy vessel had received biofuel from a partner nation’s oiler. Rear Adm. Wilson summarised the concept in simple terms: “We don’t waste food or water, and in the same way we don’t waste fuel”.
Operational activity soon intensified. On June 28 aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Three launched their first combat sorties in support of Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. The missions were flown from the Eastern Mediterranean and marked the beginning of sustained combat operations for the air wing.
Known by its traditional nickname “Battle Axe”, Carrier Air Wing Three included several F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet squadrons, the VAQ-130 Zappers flying the EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, the VAW-123 Screwtops operating the E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning platform, the VRC-40 Rawhides with their C-2A Greyhound logistics aircraft and helicopter squadrons equipped with the MH-60 Seahawk.
Its commander, Capt. Jeffrey T. “Marvin” Anderson, was himself a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School with more than 4,000 flight hours accumulated during deployments supporting operations in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
After transiting the Suez Canal on July 8 the carrier entered the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of responsibility, from where the air wing continued to support Operation Inherent Resolve across a vast area stretching from the Arabian Gulf to the Indian Ocean.
To better understand the daily rhythm of operations aboard a carrier we visited the ready room of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-32 Fighting Swordsmen, whose pilots use the callsign “Gypsies”. The squadron traces its origins back to 1945 and over the decades has operated a long succession of naval aircraft before transitioning to the F/A-18F Super Hornet.
At the time of the deployment the unit operated twelve aircraft and counted roughly 250 personnel, including about forty officers and two dozen pilots. According to Lt. Khalia Bates the Super Hornet’s versatility allows the squadron to perform a wide range of missions including air-to-air interception, maritime strike, close air support and precision attack. The aircraft can also be equipped with a buddy refuelling pod, allowing it to act as an aerial tanker for other aircraft in the strike package.
A typical operational day aboard the carrier begins with mission planning and briefing sessions involving pilots, intelligence specialists and maintenance personnel. After the sortie the aircrews return for a detailed debriefing during which every aspect of the mission is analysed. During operations over Iraq and Syria strike packages frequently required multiple aerial refuellings with coalition tankers before reaching their targets.
Electronic warfare support for the air wing is provided by the VAQ-130 Zappers, one of the longest-serving electronic attack squadrons in U.S. naval aviation. The unit transitioned from the EA-6B Prowler to the modern EA-18G Growler in 2011 and now provides essential electronic attack and suppression capabilities, protecting strike aircraft by disrupting enemy radar and communications systems.
The deployment also saw several important personal milestones. On July 23 Cmdr. Jeffrey Farmer, commanding officer of VFA-131 Wildcats, completed his 1,000th carrier arrested landing aboard Dwight D. Eisenhower, joining a small and prestigious group of naval aviators.
Earlier in the year three pilots from the VAW-123 Screwtops received the Air Medal for valor following a dramatic flight deck incident. During an arrested landing the cable snapped just as their E-2C Hawkeye touched down, leaving the aircraft rolling toward the edge of the deck. In a matter of seconds the crew managed to maintain control and power the aircraft away from the carrier, climbing out after descending to only a few feet above the water. The entire sequence lasted less than eight seconds, a vivid reminder of the risks inherent in carrier aviation and of the training required to overcome them.
Text by Luca La Cavera / Photos by Francesco Militello Mirto – EmmeReports