Airforces Monthly - February 2017
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Ready to launch. A greenshirted<br />
catapult handler<br />
sprints clear of an F/A-18E.<br />
Ioannis Lekkas<br />
THE USS Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier<br />
Strike Group (CSG) left Naval Station<br />
Norfolk, Virginia, on June 1, 2016<br />
and headed straight for the 5th Fleet area<br />
of responsibility (AOR) in the Northern<br />
Arabian Gulf (NAG). The carrier’s mission<br />
was to relieve the USS Harry S Truman CSG,<br />
supporting air strikes against IS fighters.<br />
Departure of the ‘Ike’ was originally scheduled<br />
for November 2015 but was delayed due<br />
to maintenance work that eventually took<br />
almost two years to complete. At that<br />
time the Truman headed out in its place.<br />
On June 13, the Eisenhower entered<br />
the Mediterranean Sea and the 6th<br />
Fleet AOR, accompanied by the guided<br />
missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80)<br />
and the guided missile cruiser USS San<br />
Jacinto (CG 56). They conducted combat<br />
operations from June 28 to July 7.<br />
An impressive tally of mission markings<br />
on a VFA-105 ‘Gunslingers’ F/A-18E.<br />
Ioannis Lekkas<br />
www.airforcesmonthly.com #347 FEBRUARY <strong>2017</strong> 59
Change language