T
HE US NAVY’S nine Carrier Air
Wings (CVWs) are on a cyclical
schedule of deployments,
known as cruises. Ultimately,
the eet strike ghter
squadrons are all about ‘going
to the boat’. Typically, an air wing’s
ying units begin a carefully structured
work-up period roughly a year out from
such a deployment, starting at unit level
and nishing with the entire air wing
amalgamated as a harmonized ghting
unit. It’s designed to ensure each
squadron is able to operate safely in the
demanding environment of the aircraft
carrier, a process involving safe ying
around the ship as well as sound tactical
employment in the air.In April, CVW-7 began unit-level
deployment preparations at NAS Fallon,
Nevada, under what is known as SFARP
(Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness
Program, pronounced ‘s-farp’). Combat
Aircraft joined VFA-103 ‘Jolly Rogers’ as
the F/A-18F Super Hornet squadron, led
by skipper CDR Danny ‘WAD’ Westphall,
arrived en masse at Fallon alongside
other CVW-7 F/A-18E units VFA-25 ‘Fist
of the Fleet’, VFA-86 ‘Sidewinders’ and
VFA-143 ‘Pukin’ Dogs’.
The ‘Jolly Rogers’ training o cer,
TOPGUN graduate LCDR Will ‘Mata Hari’
Craig explained, ‘SFARP is the very rst
phase of pre-deployment work-up
and it’s considered as being a unit-
level event, so it’s all completed in the
squadron, which means that despite
them being here we don’t y events
with the other squadrons from our air
wing.’ VFA-103’s sister units were at
Fallon purely because of scheduling and
the fact that they are on the same work-
up timeline.
SFARP is conducted in two distinct
phases: an air-to-surface period at Fallon
for three weeks and roughly a week and
a half at NAS Key West, Florida, for an air-
to-air phase. ‘Typically air-to-air comes
rst, but we’ve swapped it around this
time just due to the way timings worked
out,’ says Craig. ‘The other squadrons
are doing the exact same events in the
same sequence as us, simultaneously or
sequentially as the local airspace allows.’The start of a Carrier Air Wing deployment cycle begins with
unit-level work-ups. Combat Aircraft joins VFA-103 ‘Jolly
Rogers’ at NAS Fallon for its Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness
Program (SFARP).REPORT AND PHOTOS Jamie Hunter
‘Victory 11’ fl ight
forms up over
Lake Tahoe
near NAS Fallon
as it arrived
for its SFARP
deployment.42 July 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
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