Strike Fighter Wings Pacific and Atlantic

Aircraft carriers afford the leaders of our nation the ability to rapidly project air power virtually anywhere in the world without relying on overseas bases. Since our involvement in World War II, the aircraft carrier has become the cornerstone of our Navy, due primarily to the embarked carrier air wing’s offensive capabilities and intrinsic capability to carry out a multitude of missions. The mission of carrier strike groups and their associated carrier air wings varies from establishing a naval presence in support of national interests, to sea- and shore-based power projection, to protecting economic and military air- and sea-lines of communication, to close air support of troops on the ground and to peacetime presence. The role of the carrier air wing is vital to national interests around the globe and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

The majority of strike fighter squadrons that deploy aboard U.S. carriers are home ported at either Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore on the West Coast or NAS Oceana on the East Coast. The task of keeping our strike fighter squadrons ready to deploy falls to the respective coast’s Type Wing Commander, known as Commander Strike Fighter Wing Pacific/Atlantic (CSFWP/L). Their official mission statement is to provide combat-ready strike fighter squadrons, trained to conduct carrier-based, all-weather, attack, fighter and support missions as required by the fleet tactical commanders. CSFWP and CSFWL maintain close liaison with Commander Naval Air Forces (CNAF) and embarked carrier air wing commanders in the execution of this mission.

Strike Fighter Wing Pacific

Initially under the control of Commander, Fleet Air Alameda, NAS Lemoore and its home ported units were placed under the command of Commander, Fleet Air Lemoore (ComFAirLemoore) on 25 August 1969. On 1 July 1973, the name was changed to Commander, Light Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet and additional duties and responsibilities were assigned to the command. Over its history, the West Coast light attack and strike fighter squadrons have employed the A-1 Skyraider (or SPAD), the venerable A-4 Skyhawk, the workhorse A-7 Corsair II, and now, all variants of the multirole F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet. Concurrent with the final fleet transition from the A-7 to the F/A-18, the wing was designated Commander, Strike Fighter Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet on 15 April 1991, and retains that name today.

Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic

The history of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic began with the establishment of Commander Light Attack Wing One (CLAW-1) in June 1970 at NAS Cecil Field. Originally responsible for administrative and logistical support for the Atlantic Fleet’s Skyhawk and Corsair II squadrons, CLAW-1 was renamed Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic in December 1992. As a result of the Base Realignment and Closure commission recommendation, NAS Cecil Field was closed in July 1999. Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic then moved to its new home at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The retirement of the F-14 in October 2005 brought seven F/A-18 Super Hornet squadrons to Oceana, making the total number 18 of Atlantic Fleet Hornet and Super Hornet squadrons.

Strike Fighter Wings

Both the Pacific and Atlantic Type Wings advise CNAF in the conduct of strike fighter aviation and are responsible for the readiness, training, maintenance and logistics of their assigned squadrons. The commands that comprise Strike Fighter Wing Pacific are the Strike Fighter Weapons School, Pacific (SFWSP), F/A-18 Fleet Readiness Squadrons (frequently called Fleet Replacement Squadrons) (FRSs) VFA-122 and VFA-125, maintenance detachments at NAS Fallon and Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro. CSFWP fulfills its mission by supporting 14 Lemoore-based fleet squadrons and four squadrons permanently forward-deployed to NAF Atsugi, Japan. CSFWL fulfills the same mission, supporting 17 fleet squadrons home ported on the East Coast and one FRS, which performs Hornet and Super Hornet training. Additionally, CSFWL has under its umbrella, Strike Fighter Weapons School, Atlantic (SFWSL), VFA-106, the Aviation Supply Detachments (ASD) in NAS Oceana and NAS Key West, and the Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Detachment, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

To understand what each Type Wing (hereafter referred to as Wing) does to help prepare our nation’s strike fighter assets for deployment and combat, one must have a basic understanding of the enormous amount of work and coordination that goes into preparing a single squadron for deployment. A typical Fleet Training and Readiness Plan (FTRP) for a squadron consists of three or more, four- to six-week detachments, during which extensive training is conducted aboard ship and ashore at NAS Fallon. During each phase, the squadron must pack up and move the entirety of their operation to NAS Fallon or to the aircraft carrier to which they are assigned. In addition to preparations for deployment, a multitude of training events, maintenance and inspections are required before a squadron is considered ready. Each Wing assists squadrons through their operations, maintenance and administrative departments as well as providing replacement aircrew from the respective FRS and trains fleet aviators in the latest tactics through the weapons schools.

The operations department of each Wing manages and schedules a variety of airspace and training routes. For example, CSFWP is directly responsible for coordinating all Department of Defense and civilian scheduling for 19 military training routes (low levels), four Military Operating Areas (MOAs) and one aerial refueling track. On 14 February 2008, CSFWP completed a six-year project to establish the Lemoore MOA, officially named the McCluskey MOA, located directly overhead NAS Lemoore. The addition of this airspace drastically improved the utilization of resources for training due to the relatively short transit time as compared to Restricted Area, R-2508 (essentially 100 miles east of NAS Lemoore), and has helped to lighten the traffic to R-2508 originating from NAS Lemoore. The operations shop also handles liaison with the host air station for field hours, carrier air wing fly-in and flyoff, air traffic control interaction and facilities issues. Wing operations are also responsible for interaction with CNAF for issues from flyovers to fleet support and training and readiness to noise complaints.

Every aviator fully understands the importance of each squadron’s maintenance department — often referred to as the backbone of the squadron. If it is not functioning smoothly, the flight schedule is doomed before the first brief. Wing maintenance departments have a wide variety of duties all related to ensuring squadron maintenance departments run as smoothly as possible. This involves things like actually turning wrenches to making sure each squadron is properly trained, manned and equipped. The permanent maintenance detachments in Key West, Beaufort, Fallon and El Centro form an essential support network for squadrons who are on training detachments, and they routinely assist squadrons with their maintenance load. Each Wing’s maintenance department has a litany of responsibilities, foremost of which is providing trained maintenance personnel to the fleet. Dedicated personnel manage manning levels within Wing commands, schedule a wide variety of schools and provide hands-on training in the conduct, quality assurance and tracking of maintenance procedures throughout the fleet. This training includes inspection of aircraft material condition and assessment, and corrosion control and maintenance practices. The culmination of Wing-provided training is the Maintenance Program Assist visit to each squadron and maintenance unit in a continual effort to provide feedback and improvement.

Maintenance Responsibilities

Strike Fighter Wing maintenance professionals are further charged with the task of maintaining the nation’s inventory of nearly 650 F/A-18s. In addition to the normal daily upkeep of the aircraft, Wing maintainers perform liaison with the many contractors who support the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet programs and develop and disseminate local maintenance policy and procedures. A key piece of the maintenance puzzle is the supply and tracking of the vast inventory of parts needed to keep the Hornet and Super Hornet flying. Such tasks include expediting the procurement of aircraft repair parts, reporting aircraft and supply status and management of aircraft engines and numerous other high value assets such as the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared pod. Wing maintenance must also ensure that all squadrons are adequately equipped with the proper tools and support equipment to effectively maintain aircraft. The Wing maintenance departments have a monumental responsibility that requires expert coordination and management to ensure the striking power of the Navy is always ready.

The maintainers get the aircraft off the ground, but the aircraft cannot implement national policy without weapons. The weapons department of each Wing ensures squadron ordnancemen (ordies) are trained to build up, load and maintain that hardware. The weapons department conducts regular inspections of squadron ordnance shops for compliance with safety precautions in relation to loading, downloading, handling and stowage of conventional ordnance, ordnance handling equipment and aircraft armament equipment. Wing ordies directly monitor and maintain accountability for noncombat allocated ordnance to each Wing. This includes monitoring the logistic movement of conventional weapons, to and from ships and air stations. Whether live or inert, on deployment or detachment, the jack-of-all-trades F/A-18 delivers an extensive list of ordnance. With the wide variety of ordnance and carriage equipment comes a mountain of technical data and limitations. The weapons department of each Wing serves as a repository of technical expertise in all aspects related to ordnance. The staff is consulted routinely on complex issues encountered by squadrons.

Hornet Training Squadrons

CSFWP/L are each the parent command for their assigned FRSs. VFA-122 and VFA-125 are based in Lemoore, while VFA-106 is at Oceana. Each of these commands plays a critical role in providing replacement aircrew to the fleet.

The VFA-122 Flying Eagles, the newest FRS, was established on 1 October 1998 and was the first squadron in the Navy to fly the F/A-18E and F Super Hornet. Its predecessor, VA-122, the A-1 and A-7 FRS at Lemoore was disestablished on 31 May 1991, after a long history of training light attack pilots. The Super Hornet is the Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft and has seen combat in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. VFA-122 flew more than 17,000 flight hours in 2008 and has more than 58,000 mishap-free flight hours in the Super Hornet. VFA-122 currently has 193 officers and 337 enlisted personnel and operates more than 60 aircraft.

Training pilots in the F/A-18A through D, the VFA-125 Rough Raiders was established on 13 November 1980 as the Navy’s first Hornet squadron. The former VA-125 trained pilots in the F9F Cougar, A-4 Skyhawk and A-7 Corsair II until it was disestablished on 1 October 1977. Today, VFA-125 averages 1,500 flight hours monthly and trains approximately 120 pilots and 3,500 maintainers each year. Pilots from the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Air Force, Kuwaiti Air Force, Canadian Air Force, Spanish Air Force, Finnish Air Force and Malaysian Air Force have also been trained by VFA-125.

The VFA-106 Gladiators, the East Coast F/A-18 FRS, was established on 27 April 1984 at NAS Cecil Field, Florida. The first Replacement Pilot Class began training on the F/A-18 Hornet on 7 October 1985. In October and December 1987, respectively, VFA-106 received its first C- and D-models of the Hornet. In the summer of 1999, VFA-106 moved from NAS Cecil Field to NAS Oceana. In 2004, VFA-106 received its first F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

Strike Fighter Weapons Schools

In 1963, a Weapons Training Center was established to support and enhance Lemoore’s light attack fleet training syllabus. Under the comanagement of VA-122 and VA-125, the center gained the respect and admiration of the light attack community and evolved into a graduate level weapons school. With the advent of the A-7 aircraft and the intensified tempo of fleet operations, training requirements expanded. A change in the operational control in 1969 to ComFAirLemoore brought added responsibilities. Growth and sophistication in attack weaponry and delivery systems established a requirement for the formation of Light Attack Weapons School, Pacific (LAWSPac) as a parallel training vehicle within the Weapons Training Center. It is devoted solely to training weapons training officers of fleet squadrons in the effective employment of assigned airborne weapons systems.

Under ComFAirLemoore’s guidance, the Weapons Training Center grew into a center of expertise in the weapons training field. The Chief of Naval Operations recognized the need for postgraduate weapons training and expressed the desire to create a new command. His stated goal was that “eventually all pilots and every career aviator should have special training in weapons.”

With the groundwork laid, Commander, Light Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet formally established the Weapons Training Center as LAWSPac, a permanently shore-based command at NAS Lemoore. LAWSPac was redesignated Strike Fighter Weapons School, Pacific (SFWSP) on 1 July 1988 in recognition of the expanded capabilities of Lemoore-based squadrons. In August 1996, the intelligence department of CSFWP was incorporated into the Weapons School significantly enhancing the strike planning and support training for fleet squadrons.

The mission of the school has expanded from the simple, yet critical task of teaching ordnance loading procedures to providing formal standardized graduate-level training through curricula covering every aspect of F/A-18 weapons employment. SFWSP is dedicated to promoting the combat readiness of the strike fighter community by providing the best possible training in mission planning, tactics, weapons systems and ordnance handling to ensure every squadron is prepared to enter any combat contingency and win.

SFWSP is mirrored on the East Coast by Strike Fighter Weapons School, Atlantic (SFWSL). In the ’60s, new weapons were introduced to the fleet, and pilots and ordnance personnel needed training on the loading and delivery of these weapons. The training was provided when the Conventional Weapons School was formed as a department of Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing (RCVW)-4. The school’s mission was to provide training for A-4/A-7 aircraft and to disseminate new information on safe handling, loading and delivery of weapons. RCVW-4 eventually became CLAW-1, of which the Weapons school became a department based at NAS Cecil Field.

Light Attack Weapons School, Atlantic (LAWSLant) was designated a shore command on 4 May 1987. On 1 May 1988, the command’s title was changed to Strike Fighter Weapons School, Atlantic. The name change coincided with the transition to the F/A-18 and reflected the aircraft’s dual mission capabilities. In 1999, the Weapons School moved from NAS Cecil Field to NAS Oceana and is now affiliated with Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. As a result of the Navy’s transition from the F-14 to the FA-18, SFWSL consolidated with the F-14 Weapons School, SWATSLant, Strike Weapons & Tactics School, Atlantic, on 22 March 2002, to allow a synergistic approach to the training of the strike fighter community.

SFWSP/L are primarily responsible for Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program (SFARP), which is the first phase of the FTRP for deploying squadrons. Aircrew spend two weeks at their home station receiving 18 lectures on aircraft weapons systems, tactics and F/A-18 employment from strike fighter tactics instructors assigned to the respective school. After the completion of the lectures, aircrew spend another week flying the first five of 15 flights in the SFARP syllabus before packing up and detaching to NAS Fallon. In Fallon, aircrew draw on the experience of the SFWSP/L instructors and use the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center ranges and adversaries to hone their skills for future combat operations.

In addition to the SFARP syllabus, SFWSP/L instructors are responsible for training forward air controllers (airborne) (FAC(A)) for their respective Wings as well as Forward-Deployed Naval Forces aircrew assigned to Carrier Air Wing Five in Japan. After completion of the Tactical Air Control Party Course, F/A-18F aircrew receive 17 lectures and nine flights provided by the FAC(A) instructors at the weapons school. At completion of their training, designated FAC(A) aircrew are able to coordinate the weapons employment of land, air and sea assets in close proximity to friendly forces in a close-air-support mission.

While not in Fallon, SFWSP/L instructors regularly fly with local squadrons and host various conferences at their facilities. Many flights are part of the strike fighter weapons and tactics (SFWT) program, which is a basic syllabus for employing the F/A-18 in combat. All aircrew go through the SFWT syllabi, whether they just completed the FRS or are part of the Sundowner Program [Ed. note: transitioning from other platforms]. SFWSP/L aircrews teach safe and sound execution of section and division tactics in accordance with the latest recommendations from Topgun during the SFWT syllabus.

The enlisted personnel assigned to each Weapons School teach 30 weapons and tactics courses for strike fighter aircraft on a continuing basis to fleet squadrons, reserve squadrons and NASs. The amount of ordnance uploaded in courses offered at the school totals more than 2.5 million pounds annually. Each coast’s Weapons School is normally staffed with 25 permanently assigned officers, 26 enlisted personnel and seven civilians.

Support for the Future

The SFWS mission continues to be tied critically to increase the combat readiness of fleet strike fighter squadrons. The support structure behind our fleet squadrons is both complex and vitally important. CSFWP/L and their various tenant commands perform a phenomenal amount of coordination, planning and technical problem solving. This really is where the rubber meets the road in “fleet support.” The history and evolution of the current structure is a reflection of the myriad of daunting support issues facing the Naval Aviation Enterprise today.

As the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter joins the fleet soon, one can anticipate an even stronger demand on the behind the scenes support, led by Strike Fighter Wings Pacific and Atlantic.