If you haven’t already read VADM John B. “Black” Nathman’s remarks in the last issue, you need to. His commentary is every bit as pertinent today as it was when delivered last January. In four trips to the Middle East, I’ve had the opportunity to work with all four of the armed services and directly observe the contribution of carrier aviation to Enduring Freedom, especially as it relates to the other services.
To reiterate VADM Nathman’s comments, there are five areas where carrier aviation’s contribution to OEF were unmatched: lethality (84 percent bombs on target); precision (94 percent precision-guided munitions utilized); agility (more than two targets per aircraft sortie); responsiveness and flexibility (80 percent of targets hit were not preplanned; and persistence (“24/7” coverage for troops on the ground). In the six months since January, these numbers are unchanged.
The Future
As our nation’s President, Secretary of Defense and JCS Chairman have repeatedly stated, the War on Terror is likely to continue for a long time. On 11 September 2001 there were 46 different nations in which known al-Qaeda cells resided. Given the geographic realities, it makes sense that our military efforts will continue along the lines of those in Afghanistan: insertion of Special Forces, preparation of the battlefield and potential larger scale ground operations. These operations play to the strengths of carrier aviation:
- Carrier-based support for amphibious landings or insertions is something we routinely train for;
- Carriers are ideally suited for close air support, battlefield air interdiction, strike coordination and reconnaissance. We are the weapons of choice because we are unencumbered by host nation “red tape”;
- As proved by USS Kitty Hawk’s (CV-63) OEF role as a special operations platform, the large-deck carrier represents the ultimate in flexibility;
- Carrier forces are the ultimate Joint operations enablers. We arrive first, if we’re not there already, and are ready on arrival with no “ramp-up” required.
Remarkably, despite the obvious strengths listed and our documented superlative performance in Enduring Freedom, the large-deck carrier’s value to the nation continues to be debated in certain circles. It’s high time America’s decision-makers are reminded of a couple of things, which all of us involved in carrier aviation are familiar with:
- What the carriers have done on a daily basis these last nine months is nothing out of the ordinary for us. Deployments are second-nature to carrier aviation. They are the foundation of what we do and what separates us from our sister services.
- We have been covering a 15-plus carrier battle-group presence and deployment requirement with 11 carrier battle groups for most of the last decade. These commitments have, to some extent, been borne on the backs of our sailors as we pressed time-deployed limits and managed under-resourced operations, as well as maintenance and training assets to meet them. We’ve also “gapped” carrier battle group presence in various hot spots, which the warfighting commanders in chief managed as they played the battle-group shell game.
It’s Time to Become Involved
It’s incumbent upon us as Tailhookers to weigh in on these issues at every opportunity. Those of us in uniform are vitally important, for ours are the stories that need to be told. Talk to your local base or squadron public affairs officer, write letters to congressional representatives and national media publications, connect with our support groups such as Navy League, Association of Naval Aviation, Rotary and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The best stories on Naval Aviation come from those who have been there.
Along those lines, like our mission statement espouses, expect your Tailhook Association to continue to push to “tell the story of U.S. Navy carrier aviation” in this publication and in other venues. The Hook editor Steve Millikin and his staff are looking for your contributions to assist in this effort. Together we can all tell this magnificent success story.