Carrier Strike Group Six Carrier Strike Group 6 was a United States Navy carrier strike group . Its last homeport was Naval Station Mayport at the mouth of the St . Johns River near Jacksonville , Florida . Commander Carrier Division 6 was formed as an aircraft carrier centered command in the Pacific theater during the Second World War . Arthur W . Radford commanded the division in 1944 . Fifty - one Rear Admirals served as Commander , Carrier Division / Group / Strike Group 6 from August 1944 until the command was deactivated in April 2007 . On 2 June 1952 , relieved at Gibraltar and joined Carrier Division 6 in the Mediterranean Sea . After conducting strenuous flight operations between goodwill visits to many Mediterranean ports , " Wasp " was relieved at Gibraltar on 5 September by . On 1 August 1955 , the division consisted of and ( flag ) , both homeported at Norfolk . In June 1970 then Rear Admiral James L . Holloway III reported aboard " Saratoga " as Commander , Carrier Division 6 . " Saratoga " was , at the time , in port in Naples , Italy . Holloway served as commander , Carrier Division 6 as well as Task Force 60 from June 1970 throughout the Black September crisis in Jordan . Carrier Division 4 relieved Carrier Division 6 on 22 November 1970 , and Holloway and the staff returned to Mayport aboard " Saratoga " . Carrier Division 6 was redesignated a carrier group , along with all similar formations , on 30 June 1973 . After a brief stop in Palma ( 24 – 28 August 1978 ) , left the Mediterranean en route to the Atlantic and the North and Norwegian Seas to take part in the huge NATO exercise " Northern Wedding " ( 4 – 18 September ) . En route she put into Rota to allow RADM Norman K . Green , Commander , Carrier Group 6 , to embark , and for RADM Smedberg to disembark and transfer his flag to guided missile cruiser . " Northern Wedding " involved over 40 , 000 men and women , 22 submarines and 800 aircraft from nine NATO countries . Planners geared the exercise to simulate allied abilities to reinforce Western Europe in the event of an East Bloc attack . " Forrestal " and led separate task groups that steamed in a two - carrier formation to gain sea control and deploy their aircraft to support amphibious landings in the Shetland Islands and the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark . Heavy seas and high winds , however , curtailed flight operations during the first phase of the exercises , but conditions improved just barely enough in the harsh northern climes to permit the ship and her embarked air wing to support the planned objectives . The professionalism and dedication to completing their tasks which the British and Canadians displayed especially impressed crewmembers , who noted these specific allies ’ pride in more than one report . Vice Admiral Wesley L . McDonald , Commander , United States Second Fleet , gave a news conference to a group of U . S . and international journalists in the carrier ’ s ‘ War Room ’ on the 9th , describing in some detail the significance of the exercise – normally held every four years – in preparing the allies to resist a Soviet - led attack against the West . After completing the exercise the ship returned to the Mediterranean , pausing in the Spanish port of Malaga ( 22 – 27 September ) . In 1984 the group was based at Mayport and commanded . Rear Admiral Leighton W . Smith , Jr . took command of the group in 1986 and deployed with it to the North Arabian Sea , Mediterranean Sea , and North Atlantic . In October 1993 , after several weeks supporting United Nations peacekeeping efforts over Bosnia , orders came on four hours notice for Carrier Group Six , under Rear Admiral ( L ) Arthur Cebrowski , to move quickly . The group was to transit the Suez Canal and relieve on Groundhog Station 90 miles north of the equator in the Indian Ocean , supporting UNOSOM II in Somalia . The flagship transited the Suez on 29 October 1993 . She was followed , on 1 November by members of her battle group , and the replenished oiler . The transit took America over 2 , 500 miles in a week . The turnover with Abraham Lincoln permitted the west coast carrier to return to Alameda , Calif . , thereby ending a scheduled six - month deployment on time . Upon arrival , Rear Adm . Cebrowski as carrier group commander took command of Naval Battle Force Somalia ( CTF 156 ) , supporting efforts to restore some order . Other elements of the force included , , , , and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit . On September 23 , 2002 , hosted the change of command ceremony as RADM Donald K . Bullard relieved Rear Admiral Steven J . Tomaszeski as Commander , Carrier Group 6 . It appears that Carrier Group 6 became Carrier Strike Group 6 on 1 October 2004 , in common with all other Carrier Group redesignations . On April 20 , 2005 , it was announced that : The group ' s final operation was a special shore duty deployment as Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa ( CJTF - HOA ) in Djibouti , East Africa under Rear Admiral Michael Hunt . Hunt was reassigned as N80 16 March 2007 . " More than 60 sailors returned home Thursday [ February 22 , 2007 ] after a 12 - month assignment with the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa . The staff of Carrier Strike Group 6 , led by Rear Admiral Richard W . Hunt , deployed to Djibouti on February 21 , 2006 , to fight terrorism and enhance diplomatic ties in the region . Relieving a Marine Corps staff , Carrier Strike Group 6 was the first Navy unit to lead a ground - based task force in the war on terror , Navy officials said . " During its nearly 63 years history at least four division Rear Admirals were eventually promoted to Chief of Naval Operations , the most recent being Admiral James L . Holloway III . For most of its history operated as a Task Force Command under the Second or Sixth Fleet ’ s operational control . Famous attack aircraft carriers assigned to the command include the , , , and . '