Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG-2 or COMCARSTRKGRU 2) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier is the strike group's current flagship. As of September 2026, other units assigned to Carrier Strike Group 2 included the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Three and the s USS Mitscher (DDG-57), USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Mahan (DDG-72), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) from Destroyer Squadron 22.
The group traces its history to the creation of Carrier Division 2 on 1 April 1931. The group took its current form on 1 October 2004. On 29 July 2010, Rear Admiral Nora W. Tyson assumed command of the group, becoming the first woman to command a U.S. Navy carrier task group. The group's 2011 Mediterranean deployment marked the maiden deployment for the carrier USS George H.W. Bush and the guided-missile destroyer . The group's units were the first U.S. naval forces to participate in Operation Inherent Resolve, the 2014 U.S.-led multi-lateral air campaign against the Islamic State group.
Historical background On 1 April 1931, Rear Admiral Joseph M. Reeves took command of Carrier Division 2 (CarDiv 2), becoming the first carrier division commander in the U.S. Navy. Reeves was also designated as Commander Aircraft U.S. Fleet. Carrier Division 2 initially consisted of the U.S. Navy's first true fast aircraft carriers, and , as well as former minesweeper which acted as an aircraft tender and guardship for the two carriers. Under Reeves' leadership, both carriers had previously distinguished themselves in two major naval exercises, the 1929 Fleet Problem IX and the 1930 Fleet Problem X, demonstrating the potential of aircraft carriers and their embarked air groups in naval offensive operations.Polmar. Aircraft Carriers, Volume 1, pp. 53–56. Aircraft carriers from Carrier Division 2 became the first to embark U.S. Marine Corps aviation units when, on 2 November 1931, squadron VS-14M joined the Saratoga and squadron VS-15M joined the Lexington.Polmar. Aircraft Carriers, Volume 1, p. 57.
In 1933, Saratoga and were assigned to Carrier Division 2, which was under the Commander Aircraft, Battle Force, while Lexington was reassigned to Carrier Division One under Commander Aircraft, Scouting Force. In February 1939, Carrier Division Two, now consisting of Yorktown and Enterprise, participated in the war game Fleet Problem XX. The scenario for the exercise called for one fleet to control the sea lanes in the Caribbean against the incursion of a foreign European power while maintaining sufficient naval strength to protect vital American interests in the Pacific. In December 1941, on the eve of the United States' entry into the Second World War, Carrier Division Two was under the command of Vice Admiral William Halsey Jr., who was also the Commander Aircraft Battle Force in the Pacific Ocean.Polmar. Aircraft Carriers, Volume 1, p. 144 (Table 8-2).
During the Second World War, aircraft carriers assigned to Carrier Division Two participated in the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, Operation Hailstone, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as the Solomon Islands campaign, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, the Hollandia and Western New Guinea campaign, the Philippines Campaign, the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Iwo Jima campaign, and the Okinawan campaign, as part of the Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force. Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman commanded the division in 1943 while it was operating with the Fast Carrier Task Force.
On 1 August 1955 the division was made up of (Newport) and (flagship) at Mayport.Naval Aeronautical Organization OPNAV NOTICE 05400 for Fiscal Year 1956 dated 1 August 1955 Ranger sailed as the flagship of Rear Admiral H. H. Caldwell, Commander, Carrier Division 2, from Hawaii to join the Seventh Fleet in February 1959. Air operations off Okinawa were followed by maneuvers with naval units from U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay. A special weapons warfare exercise and a patrol along the southern seaboard of Japan followed. During this deployment, Ranger launched more than 7,000 sorties.
After the war, division aircraft carriers were involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. flew the flag of Commander Carrier Division 2 in 1963. Rear Admiral Bernard M. Strean, as division commander, led Enterprise, Long Beach, and Bainbridge around the world in Operation Sea Orbit from July to October 1964. 'Sea Orbit' was a successful test of the first all-nuclear-powered task force. On 25 September 1965, Rear Admiral J. O. Cobb broke his flag as Commander, Carrier Division 2, aboard . The division was re-designated as Commander Carrier Group 2 (ComCarGru 2) in 1973.
In 1986, while commanding Carrier Group Two, Rear Admiral Jerry C. Breast commanded the carrier battle group and Task Group 60.1 of the U.S. Sixth Fleet during a series of naval maneuvers code-named Attain Document. These naval maneuvers were intended to assert the freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Sidra as well as to challenge the territorial claims of Libya to that body of water. Subsequently, the Coral Sea carrier battle group and the rest of Task Force 60 carried out Operation El Dorado Canyon, a series of punitive air-strikes against Libya in retaliations to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.
On 15 August 1990, the group staff embarked in for a no-notification combat deployment in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The battle group deployed for Operation Desert Storm only five days after notification, even though she had dispersed her air wing throughout the continental United States for training and just off-loaded stores and material in preparation for a routine yard period. Rear Admiral Riley Mixson, Commander, Carrier Group Two, acted as Commander, Battle Force Yankee of Naval Forces Central Command during the war. Battle Force Yankee included Saratoga and probably John F. Kennedy, and operated in the Red Sea.
In the middle of 1992, the U.S. Navy instituted a concept which mandated greater task group integration of naval air and surface warfare assets into a more permanent carrier battle group structure. Instead of routinely changing the cruisers, destroyers, and frigates assigned to each carrier battle group, there was an attempt made to affiliate certain escorts more permanently with the carriers they escorted. Each of the Navy's 12 existing carrier battle groups was planned to consist of an aircraft carrier; an embarked carrier air wing; cruiser, destroyer, and frigate units; and two nuclear-powered attack submarines. For details regarding this re-alignments as it pertained to Carrier Group Two, see the chart below.
Carrier Group Two, late 1992 Cruisers/Submarines Destroyer Squadron 20 Carrier Air Wing 3 squadrons embarked aboard Fighter Squadron 32: F-14B Airborne Early Warning Sqd. 126: E-2C Fighter Squadron 14: F-14B Sea Control Squadron 38: S-3A Strike Fighter Squadron 105: F/A-18C Helicopter Anti-Submarine Sqd. 7: SH-3H —— Strike Fighter Squadron 37: F/A-18C —— —— —— Attack Squadron 75: A-6E, KA-6D —— —— —— Airborne Early Warning Sqd. 130: EA-6B ——
During its Mediterranean deployments, the Kennedy battle group flew large numbers of Operation Deny Flight no-fly zone missions over Bosnia-Herzegovina. The battle group also saw service with the U.S. Fifth Fleet in support Operation Southern Watch, the enforcement of a no-fly zone over southern Iraq. Commander Carrier Group Two also served as Commander Joint Task Force 120 during Operation Uphold Democracy, the 1994–1995 intervention designed to remove the military regime in Haiti installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état. It appears that Kennedy transferred to another carrier group in 1995, as the announced 31 August 1995, listing of Carrier Group Two's composition included and . In addition, was intended to join the group in 1996–97.All Hands, 'Fleet's structure reorganized,' September 1995, p.2-3 In September 1995, joined Carrier Group Two.USS Hue City Command History for 2001, including Summary of Ship Activities since 1989, pg 12 of 17 Hue City was transferred from Carrier Group 2 to the Western Hemisphere Group on 1 August 1998.
The group deployed in 2000–01 led by Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).
was reassigned to the group effective 1 February 2004, and the carrier underwent its Docked Planned Incremental Availability overhaul at the Newport Naval Yard in Virginia between 10 August and 10 December 2004.
Command structure Commander Carrier Strike Group 2 (COMCARSTRKGRU 2 or CCSG 2) is responsible for unit-level training, integrated training, and material readiness for the group's ships and aviation squadrons. When not deployed, the strike group is part of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and its commander reports to Commander, U.S. SECOND Fleet. When deployed overseas, the group comes under command of the numbered fleet (Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, or Seventh) in whose area it is operating, and will have a task force or task group designator, for example, Task Group 50 in the Fifth Fleet area.
Group commanders since 2004 have included: • Rear Admiral (lower half) Thomas J. Kilcline, Jr. named 16 June 2003, in post May 2004, nominated to be promoted to rear admiral. • Rear Admiral James A. Winnefeld, Jr. (July 2004 – June 2006) • Rear Admiral Michael C. Vitale (June 2006 – September 2007) • Rear Admiral Frank Craig Pandolfe (September 2007 – July 2009) • Rear Admiral David M. Thomas (July 2009 – July 2010) • Captain Jeffrey A. Hesterman (July 2010) • Rear Admiral Nora W. Tyson (July 2010 – January 2012) • Rear Admiral Gregory M. Nosal (January 2012 – March 2013) • Rear Admiral John C. Aquilino (March 2013 – February 2014) • Rear Admiral DeWolfe H. Miller III (February 2014 – August 2015) • Rear Admiral Brian E. Luther (August 2015 – November 2016) • Rear Admiral Kenneth R. Whitesell(November 2016 – October 2017) • Rear Admiral Stephen C. Evans(October 2017 – August 2019) • Rear Admiral Sara A. Joyner(August 2019 – April 2020) • Rear Admiral Richard J. Cheeseman Jr.(April 2020 – December 2020) • Rear Admiral Scott Robertson(December 2020 – June 2022) • Rear Admiral Marc J. Miguez(June 2022 – June 2024) • Rear Admiral Kavon Hakimzadeh(June 2024 – May 2025) • Rear Admiral Frank Rhodes(May 2025 – June 2026) • Rear Admiral P. Scott Miller (June 2026 – Present)
Operational history On 1 October 2004, Carrier Group 2 was re-designated as Carrier Strike Group 2. Theodore Roosevelt underwent sea trials 11–15 December 2004, and the carrier was officially delivered back to the Navy on 17 December 2004. Joint Task Force Exercise 05-2 (JTFEX 05-2, or Operation Brewing Storm 2005) was held between 14 and 22 July 2005. It included Carrier Strike Group 2, Carrier Strike Group Ten, the Spanish frigate Álvaro de Bazán, and the Peruvian submarine Antofagasta. The group received its Combat Operations Efficiency certification following the completion of its Composite Training Unit Exercise on 17 July 2005.
2005–2006 deployment