combat aircraft

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)

Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) NE

Squadron Nickname Aircraft MoDex

VFA-2 ‘Bounty Hunters’ F/A-18F 1xx

VFA-137 ‘Kestrels’ F/A-18E 2xx

VFA-192 ‘Golden Dragons’ F/A-18E 3xx

VFA-34 ‘Blue Blasters’ F/A-18C 4xx

VAQ-136 ‘Gauntlets’ EA-18G 5xx

VAW-113 ‘Black Eagles’ E-2C 60x

HSC-4 ‘Black Knights’ MH-60S 61x

HSM-78 ‘Blue Hawks’ MH-60R 7xx

VRC-30 Det 2 ‘Providers’ C-2A xx

The exercise wound-up with a ‘free-play’
phase, essentially a large-scale simulated
battle. This included realistic situations
that nations could theoretically face in
the region — it was full-spectrum
operations on the surface, underwater, in
the air and on land.
Gall explained how the phases
impacted HMH-463. ‘The FIT phase
provided our  rst opportunity to conduct
day and night landing quali cations on
the HMAS Adelaide. The  nal operational
event was an amphibious assault onto
Kaneohe Bay, using partner ships,
mechanized units, and ground troops in
concert with USMC  xed- and rotary-
wing aircraft within a three-hour period.’
Newkirk concluded, ‘An air wing can
operate independently only up to a
certain point. Its utility and lethality
hinges on the support of other services,
other disciplines and certainly other
nations. Co-ordinating with, planning
side-by-side with, and executing with
partner nations creates muscle memory
that cannot be replicated in any other
exercise on such a grand scale. The more
we learn from our partners, the more
e ective we will be, and the more
e ective the Paci c theater will be.’

The author would like to thank Capt Eric Abrams,

LTJG Kristina Wiedemann, LCDR Tim Hawkins

and the entire ‘RIMPAC’ media team for making

this article possible.

Above: The carrier

is kept resupplied

with time-critical

cargo by the C-2A

Greyhound, which

darts back and

forth to and from

the ship from

the nearby land

bases.

http://www.combataircraft.net // November 2018 75