VA-72’s 511 launches from the FDR during Vietnam
Following one last Med cruise aboard the Roosevelt, CVW-1 moved on to the USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67) for its shakedown cruise with CAG Marr recording her first trap on October 22, 1968. Throughout the 1970’s until 1981 CVW-1 made multiple cruises aboard CVA-67 to the Med, Norlant, and Westlant. Tarbox introduced the Navy’s newest tactical aircraft, the F-14A Tomcat with VF-14 and VF-32 to the Mediterranean in 1975. The air wing saw several other changed with the addition of the S-3A Viking with VS-22, EA-6B Prowler with VAQ-133, and E-2C with VAW-125.
1980’s and Libya
CVW-1 joined the USS America (CV-66) in mid-1982, forming a partnership that ended with her decommissioning in August 1996. The 1982-83 Med and Indian Ocean cruise that saw a record setting 102 consecutive day underway period while on GONZO station in the Indian Ocean. Both the ship and air wing were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for operations in support of American peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon. The Tarbox/America team returned to Norfolk after safely amassing over 20,000 hours and 8,700 sorties. In April of 1984 the strike group headed to the unrest in the Persian Gulf area at one point recording 102 continuous days underway. They participated in DISPLAY DETERMINATION interacting with Italian, French, Turkish, Belgian, and USAF units while operating in the Med.
The Tarbox/USS America team conducted combat operations from the Gulf of Sidra during the 1986 attack on Libya along with the USS Coral Sea. Air wing aircraft were virtually unchallenged by Libyan Fighters south of Khadafy’s "Line of Death." In March 1986 air wing F-14's were fired on by Libyan SAM's and AAA while flying CAP's for OPERATION PRARIE FIRE. “First and Foremost” conducted joint strikes on terrorist staging sites in Tripoli and Benghazi with USAF F-111’s. VA-34’s A-6E Intruders attacked and damaged a Libyan FACM Class La Combattante II fast attack missile craft with a AGM-84 Harpoon missiles (the first combat employment Harpoon). On the night of 14 April 1986, the Blue Blasters conducted a low-level, high-speed attack against the Benina airfield and military barracks in Benghazi. VA-46 also provided air-to-surface Shrike and Harm missile strikes against Libyian radar missile sites while VAMQ-2 EA-6B’s provided electronic jamming.
CVW-1 on USS America
Gulf War and the 1990’s
The Tarbox/USS America team was the only carrier battle group to launch strikes in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM from both the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Within 48 hours of their arrival Tarbox aircraft began combat operations over Iraq logging more than 1,300 sorties. VF-102 logged more than 1400 combat flight hours alone. VS-32 became the first S-3 Squadron to engage and destroy a hostile vessel, an Iraqi gunboat hit by three 500-lbs bombs and vectored to the target by the USS Valley Forge (CG-50).
Tarbox began a third Med deployment in three years in August of 1993 aboard the America. The Air Wing conducted humanitarian operations off the coast of Bosnia-Herzegovina supporting OPERATION’s PROVIDE PROMISE and DENY FLIGHT. In late October they supported RESTOR HOPE off the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia and by Mid-December shifted to OPERATION SOUTHERN WATCH in Iraq. The 1995–96 Med cruise commenced with an emergency sortie to the Adriatic Sea for OPERATION DELIBERATE FORCE followed by a return to the Gulf in support of SOUTHERN WATCH. Placement of U.S. ground forces in Bosnia, led to a 4,000 mile transit in just 9 days to the Adriatic in December where the strike group remained until returning home. Tarbox amassed over 26,000 flight hours and 11,500 arrested landings on America’s final cruise and CVW-1 moved to the USS George Washington (CVN-73) strike group.
Tarbox and GW launched into an intense work-up cycle in 1997 that included the multinational BRIGHT STAR Exercise. This involved integration with Egyptian Air and Special Operations Forces that included 3,200 fixed and rotary wing sorties from seven different nations. On her third deployment from October 1997 to April 1998, the GW remained in the Persian Gulf enforcing a No Fly Zone along with the Nimitz as part of SOUTHERN WATCH. The two carriers provided 50 strike aircraft apiece with their new LANTIRN system working with RAF Harrier GR7's from the HMS Invincible.
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