A carrier air wing (CVW) is an operational naval aviation organization composed of
several aircraft squadrons and detachments of various types of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. Organized, equipped and trained to conduct modern US Navy carrier air operations while embarked aboard aircraft carriers, the various squadrons in an air wing have different, complementary (and sometimes overlapping) missions, and provide most of the striking power and electronic warfare capabilities of a carrier battle group (CVBG). Until 1963, Carrier Air Wings were known as Carrier Air Groups (CAGs).
While the CVBG term is still used by other nations, the CVBG in US parlance is now known as a carrier strike group (CSG).
Carrier Air Wings are what the United States Air Force would call “composite” wings, and should not be confused with U.S. Navy Type Wings (such as Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic), which are primarily administrative and training commands composed of squadrons of the same type of carrier-based aircraft when not deployed.
Carrier Air Wings integrate closely with their assigned aircraft carriers, forming a "carrier/air wing team" that trains and deploys together. To date (as per Wikipedia) there are currently ten U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wings, four based at NAS Oceana, Virginia, five based at NAS Lemoore, California, and one forward deployed to NAF Atsugi, Japan.
In addition to aviation squadrons collocated at NAS Oceana and NAS Lemoore, the CONUS-based air wings will also draw additional squadrons fromNAS Whidbey Island, Washington; NAS Point Mugu, NAS North Island, and MCAS Miramar in California; NAS Jacksonville, Florida; MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina; MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina; and NS Norfolk/Chambers Field, Virginia.
These air wings are occasionally reassigned to different aircraft carriers based on carrier maintenance schedules. A modern air wing consists of roughly 2,500 personnel and 60–65 aircraft. The Air Department gives direct support to the embarked air wing. The Air Department is in charge of launching and landing aircraft, fueling, moving, and controlling fixed and variable wing aircraft.
During the course of the war in the Pacific the compositions of the air groups changed drastically. The scouting squadrons were disestablished by early 1943 and the number of fighter planes was increased continuously. Typically in 1943 the Intrepid (an Essex class carrier) carried 36 fighter planes, 36 bombers and 18 torpedo planes. By the end of WWII, a typical Essex air group was over 100 aircraft, consisting of 1 squadron of 18 F6F fighters, 4 squadrons of 72 F4U fighter/bombers, and 1 squadron of 12 TBM Avenger torpedo bombers.
After the Intrepid arrived in the Pacific, after her commissioning in 1943, her first mission was to support the landings at Kwajalein invasion in early 1944.
On 17 Feb 1944 she was damaged by an aerial torpedo and returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs and remained there until September 1944. After returning to action, she launched planes to strike the Palau Islands, Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippine Islands.
On 25 Nov 1944, during the Leyte Campaign, she was struck by a kamikaze and lost 69 officers and men in the most tragic chapter of her history. She went under repairs again and returned to action to launch attacks on the Japanese home islands in preparation for the land invasion that never took place. She also assisted in the Okinawa landing.
When Japan surrendered, she was stateside for repairs the third time during the war (again from kamikaze). She was deactivated in Mar 1947. Intrepid became part of the active fleet again in 1954 after a two-year modernization, and served in the US Navy until 1974.
After arriving in the Pacific after her commissioning in 1943, her first mission was to support the landings at Kwajalein invasion in early 1944. On 17 Feb 1944 she was damaged by an aerial torpedo and returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs and remained there until September 1944.
After returning to action, she launched planes to strike the Palau Islands, Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippine Islands. On 25 Nov 1944, during the Leyte Campaign, she was struck by a kamikaze and lost 69 officers and men in the most tragic chapter of her history. She went under repairs again and returned to action to launch attacks on the Japanese home islands in preparation for the land invasion that never took place. She also assisted in the Okinawa landing.
When Japan surrendered, she was stateside for repairs the third time during the war (again from kamikaze). She was deactivated in Mar 1947. Intrepid became part of the active fleet again in 1954 after a two-year modernization, and served in the US Navy until 1974.
