A carrier air wing (abbreviated CVW) is an operational naval aviation organization composed of several aircraft squadrons and detachments of various types of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.FIREPOWER: THE WEAPONS THE PROFESSIONALS USE - AND HOW. CARRIER AIR WING, #9 Orbis Publishing 1990 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 but complementary (and sometimes overlapping) missions, and provide most of the striking power and electronic warfare capabilities of a carrier battle group (CVBG). While the CVBG term is still used by other nations, the CVBG in US parlance is now known as a carrier strike group (CSG).
Until 1963, Carrier Air Wings were known as Carrier Air Groups (CVGs). 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. The United States Marine Corps equivalent command-level organization to a CVW is the Marine Aircraft Group (MAG). However, MAGs are shore-based (with sea-based capability) and may contain any combination of aircraft squadrons and aviation support units. Carrier Air Wings integrate closely with their assigned aircraft carriers, forming a "carrier/air wing team" that trains and deploys together. There are currently nine U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wings; four of the wing commanders and their staffs are based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, four are based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, and one is aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. The squadrons which make up each wing are based at various bases in the U.S. with their respective Type Wing Commanders with the exception of those squadrons assigned to the Japan based airwing which are based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni (fixed wing squadrons) and Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan (helicopters).
In addition to the squadrons which happen to be based at NAS Oceana and NAS Lemoore with the wing staffs the CONUS-based air wings also have squadrons based at NAS 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 1,500 personnel and 74–78 aircraft.
Origins
Carrier Air Groups (as they were then called) first appeared on 1 July 1937. Prior to this, squadrons were not grouped together, were not permanently assigned to a specific aircraft carrier and were designated serially within each squadron type. On 1 July 1937 for the first time, specific squadrons were grouped together, permanently assigned to a specific aircraft carrier and redesignated with the hull number of that carrier. A year later, on 1 July 1938 authorization for Air Group Commander billets became effective. With that action, the squadrons on board acquired the unity of a formal command and the carrier air group as such first took form.Roy A. Grossnick (ed.), United States Naval Aviation 1910–1995, Appendix 15, accessed May 2012 1 July 1938 is the date recognized by the Navy as the establishment date of it first Carrier Air Groups.
From July 1937 to mid-1942, Carrier Air Groups were permanently assigned to and identified by their parent aircraft carrier, and group squadrons were numbered according to the carrier's hull number. For example, the Enterprise Air Group, assigned to , were all numbered "6": Fighting Squadron (VF) 6, Bombing Squadron (VB) 6, etc.Swanborough, pp. 38 From 1942, numerical designation of carrier air groups began, the first being Carrier Air Group 9 (CVG-9), established on 1 March 1942. For a while, they were given unique numbers according to their assigned carriers' hull number (i.e., the Saratoga Air Group became CVG-3).Swanborough/Bowers, p. 35 This numbering scheme was also soon scrapped as carrier air groups (now abbreviated CVGs) frequently moved from carrier to carrier. At this point, the carrier air groups simply retained their number designation regardless of the carrier assigned.
The first formal system for air group identification (Visual Identification System for Naval Aircraft) was established in January 1945. This consisted of geometric symbols that identified the parent carrier, not the air group. As there were just too many carriers and the symbols were hard to remember or to describe over the radio, a single or double letter system was introduced in July 1945. The letters, however, still identified the carrier, not the carrier air group. The following identifications are known:Greer, p. 33
: CC : M : A : RR : AF : S : V : L : H : X : U : TT : C : SS : Z
Shangri-La is known to have had her Lightning Bolt on the flight deck forward and aft replaced by her air group identification letter "Z", as the slight remaining Lightning Bolt can be seen painted on the deck beneath the Z on the victory photos of the carrier. Due to the ongoing combat and the end of the war, a mix of identification codes was used in late 1945. Starting in late 1946, the letters identified the carrier air group, and not the carrier. The use of single letters was discontinued in 1957.Swanborough/Bowers, p. 37
On 15 November 1946, to correct the results of demobilization which had left squadron numbers all out of sequence, sweeping changes were made in air unit designations. Carrier Air Groups of four types were designated according to their assigned ship, as CVBG for Battle Carrier, CVG for Attack Carrier, CVLG for Light Carrier and CVEG for Escort Carrier. Two years later, on 1 September 1948, all carrier air groups became CVG regardless of their carrier affiliation.
On 20 December 1963, Carrier Air Groups were retitled Wings, and the acronym CVG became CVW. Replacement Air Groups, which were set up in 1958, became Combat Readiness Air Groups on 1 April 1963. Often known by the short titles RAG and CRAG in the respective periods, their designation throughout was RCVG. When Groups became Wings, CRAG became CRAW and RCVG became RCVW.
From 1960 to 1974, the U.S. Navy also operated Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Groups (CVSG). These typically consisted of two fixed-wing anti-submarine squadrons (VS), a helicopter anti-submarine squadron (HS), and two smaller squadrons or squadron detachments of 3–4 aircraft for airborne early warning (VAW) and self-defense (VA, VMA, VSF, VF).Terzibaschitsch, Luftwaffe, p. 16
Carrier Air Group/Carrier Air Wing Commander
The position of Carrier Air Group Commander was officially established in 1938.Lawson, p. 40-42Very little official info exists on organization prior to that date. In his recollections book Admiral Joseph.J. Clark mentions he held the newly created position of "Carrier representative" in 1936, with a coordination role, especially when the squadrons were ashore, while he was assistant air officer onboard USS Lexington. Reference : Carrier Admiral by J. J. Clark (1893–1971) with Clark G. Reynolds. (1967). Robert Lawson mentions that a similar position existed - as a collateral duty - onboard the Ranger during the same period but these assignments do not appear in official Navy Department documents (Lawson, 2000 p 39-40) The CAG was expected to personally lead all major strike operations, co-ordinating the attacks of the carrier's fighter, bomber, and torpedo planes in combat.Lawson, p. 39-40There were a few exceptions, either because the CAG preferred to remain on board the carrier or because he was ordered to do so (Lawson, 2000 p. 49).
The first CAGs were mostly lieutenant-commanders and this practice continued during the first years of World War II (for example, during the Battle of Midway, two of the three Air Groups involved were commanded by lieutenant-commanders) but commander-CAGs gradually became the norm for the large attack carriers.Lawson, 2000 p. 39-50 - see also Lundstrom, John B. The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway Naval Institute Press - Annapolis, Maryland, 2005
In 1963 when Carrier Air Groups were retitled Wings, the commander retained the legacy title of "CAG" which continues to this day.
Until 1986, CAGs were typically post-squadron command aviators in the rank of commander. Though the CAG was in command of the air wing, he functioned as a department head reporting to the carrier's commanding officer once the wing embarked. The CAG would typically be promoted to captain after their tour and - if selected - could subsequently command a deep draft support vessel, then an aircraft carrier as a senior captain.A CAG tour was one of the possible paths to conventional carrier command. Command of nuclear-powered carriers was almost impossible for former CAGs as it required too many steps (nuclear school, executive officier of a nuclear carrier, then deep-draft command) for an aviator to hold a CAG position in between - see Lawson p. 56 In 1986, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman elevated the CAG position to a captain's billet and on-par with aircraft carrier's commander while embarked, both officers reporting directly to the Carrier Battle Group commander. During this transition period some air wings were commanded by commanders, others by captains; these new captain CAGs were dubbed "Super CAGs" or "Senior CAGs" until all air wings transitioned. A deputy CAG (DCAG) position was also created in 1986. Initially filled by a junior captain who had recently completed his (or her) squadron command tour, the position is now filled by a senior captain who "fleets up" and replaces the out-going CAG after about 18 months for a total DCAG-CAG tour duration of 36 months.Lawson, p. 55-60
A modern carrier air wing has a small command staff consisting of 16–20 officers and approximately 20 enlisted personnel. It is headed by the CAG, who is a navy captain with an aeronautical designation as a Naval Aviator or Naval Flight Officer. In the decade of the 2000s, the Navy and Marine Corps "cross pollinated" Carrier Air Wings and Marine Aircraft Groups by assigning a Marine Corps colonel as the commander of one carrier air wing and a Navy captain as the commander of one Marine aircraft group. That practice ceased before the end of the decade.
The CAG staff includes an operations officer (typically a commander), a number of warfare specialists (typically lieutenant commanders or lieutenants), two wing landing signal officers, an intelligence officer, a weapons officer and a maintenance officer. The air wing staff is often supplemented with squadron personnel, such as the squadron intelligence officers. The CAG reports to a rear admiral in the position of commander, Carrier Strike Group and is equal with the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier as well as the embarked Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) commander and the attached guided missile cruiser commanding officer. The CAG serves as the Strike Group's strike warfare commander, responsible for all offensive strike operations (including Tomahawk missiles). CAGs are typically qualified to fly at least two types of aircraft in the Carrier Air Wing inventory.
Carrier Air Group/Wing composition World War II
Typical air group composition aboard the Yorktown-class carriers, at the beginning of World War II, consisted of approximately 72 aircraft: 1 fighter squadron (VF) composed of 18 Grumman F4F Wildcats 1 bombing squadron (VB) composed of 18 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers 1 scouting squadron (VS) composed of 18 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers 1 torpedo squadron (VT) composed of 18 Douglas TBD Devastator or Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo bombers