10/24/2014: ARABIAN GULF (Oct. 18, 2014)
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) relieves USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in the Arabian Gulf.
George H.W. Bush will soon depart the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility for its homeport at Norfolk, Va., and Carl Vinson will take over support of maritime security operations, strike operations in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve as directed, and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
Credit: Navy Media Content Services:10/18/14
The Combat Learning Cycle
In our visit to Fallon Naval Air Station, earlier this month, CDR (S) Jayson “Plato” Eurick, current Air Wing Training Officer, at Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, Fallon Naval Air Station, described the combat learning cycle between training for the deployment at sea and a carrier wing deployed.
What we learned from Plato was that the Bush CAG is in daily contact with Fallon to both provide input with regard to operations and their impact on preparing the next air wing out as well as to get help when needed with regard to altering tactics and training WHILE on deployment.
Training is about getting ready for deployment and supporting deployment, which is certainly a broad concept of training.
We ensure that they (the air wing) get up to speed on all of the information that is currently taking place in theater.
We don’t train Air Wing Fallon for a specific theater or country, we give them a broad brushed training, but we ensure that they get the information that is coming directly back from the guys overseas, in this case, the USS Bush.
And then we train them.
Question: You have described the CAG talking regularly with Fallon. Is this largely a one-way transmission?
Plato: It is highly interactive. It is daily. And we provide inputs when asked to improve tactics and training for ongoing operations.
What Plato highlighted was that his team worked at the end of the workup cycle where the various elements of the air wing come together and prepare to execute the complex ballet at sea which is what a carrier air wing has to do to be successful.
After a four week training period, the wing then goes to its at sea pre deployment and then on deployment.
So Plato and his team are at the end of the preparatory cycle, so the ability to input the latest operational information is central to mission success.