USS Carl Vinson clears another hurdle before deployment

The US Navy carrier strike group centered around the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson completed a three-week sustainment training exercise off the coast of Southern California, November 16.

Completing the exercise indicates the strike group’s readiness for executing missions across all warfare areas.

The group successfully conducted a series of at-sea drills, missile shoots, and strike operations using a variety naval platforms and weapons.

The strike group, which includes aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), and Destroyer Squadron 1 ships USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), is scheduled to deploy to the Western Pacific region early next year.

“Our time at sea was well spent. We trained how we fight,” said Commander, Carrier Strike Group 1 Rear Adm. John Fuller, who leads the group. “We worked hard as a team to refine our battle rhythm and execute complex, integrated operations. We’re ready for deployment.”

The air wing’s complement of 75 aircraft under CVW-2 completed 1,419 sorties totaling 2,874 flight hours during the exercise. This included flying 200 sorties over a two-day surge period and expending 251,768 pounds of ordnance on training targets ashore.

Additionally, strike group ships conducted damage control training during multiple scenarios and successfully conducted sea-launched missile attacks on training targets.

“We met our training objectives and combat effectiveness metrics. We benefited greatly from mentoring and insights shared by Carrier Strike Group 15 who served as our training partner,” said Fuller. “We have already begun incorporating lessons learned.”

Carrier Strike Group 1 was formally established in 2009 and is based in San Diego. It also includes guided-missile destroyers USS O’Kane (DDG 77), currently operating in the Western Pacific, USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS Dewey (DDG 105).