Carrier Air Wing Five Carrier Air Wing Five ( CVW - 5 ) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi , Japan . The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington ( CVN - 73 ) . It was initially formed in 1943 . It has participated in the Second World War , the Korean War , the Gulf War , Operation Southern Watch , the War in Afghanistan , and the War in Iraq . Mission . To conduct carrier air warfare operations and assist in the planning , control , coordination and integration of seven air wing squadrons in support of carrier air warfare including ; Interception and destruction of enemy aircraft and missiles in all - weather conditions to establish and maintain local air superiority . All - weather offensive air - to - surface attacks , Detection , localization , and destruction of enemy ships and submarines to establish and maintain local sea control . Aerial photographic , sighting , and electronic intelligence for naval and joint operations . Airborne early warning service to fleet forces and shore warning nets . Airborne electronic countermeasures . In - flight refueling operations to extend the range and the endurance of air wing aircraft and Search and rescue operations . Subordinate units . CVW - 5 consists of 9 Squadrons History . Originally commissioned as Carrier Air Group Five ( CVG - 5 ) in 1943 , the new air group rapidly became embroiled in the war in the Pacific . Homeported in San Diego , California , after the war , Air Group Five quickly recorded a number of firsts , including the first squadron to land a jet aircraft aboard a carrier ( 1948 ) , the first jet aircraft in the Navy to shoot down enemy aircraft when Cmdr . Lamb VF - 52 shot down a Yak fighter of 3 July 1950 , the first to arrive in Yellow Sea , the first to launch jet aircraft against enemy , and the first to include both jet squadrons VF - 51 , VF - 52 with F9F1 Panther jets , VF - 53 with F4U Corsair s , VA - 54 and VA - 55 with AD - 1 Skyraider s . CVG - 5 was the first air group to enter the Korean War , and after serving 18 months in the combat zone , had compiled more combat time than any other air group in the Korean War . CVG - 5 was renamed CVW - 5 in 1963 when the Navy reclassified its air groups . Vietnam War . In 1964 , CVW - 5 was called to action in the Gulf of Tonkin for a total of eight combat cruises . On 5 December 1965 , a Broken Arrow incident occurred aboard the , upon which CVW - 5 was embarked . A Douglas A - 4E Skyhawk attack aircraft of VA - 65 carrying a nuclear weapon fell into the sea . On the 31st day after departing Subic Bay , the attack jet fell over the side during a training exercise while being rolled from the number 2 hangar bay to the number 2 elevator . The pilot , Lieutenant ( junior grade ) Douglas M . Webster , the aircraft , A - 4E BuNo 151022 , ( a re - designated A4D - 5 ) , of VA - 56 Champions , and the B43 nuclear bomb were never recovered from the depth . The accident occurred from Okinawa . In 1973 , CVW - 5 embarked on to become part of the first carrier / air wing team permanently forward deployed , to Yokosuka , Japan . The wing completed 111 continuous days on station in the North Arabian Sea in 1984 , which the wing ' s official site describes as ' guarding the Straits of Hormuz and guaranteeing the continued flow of vital oil to Japan and Western Europe . ' Gulf War . CVW - 5 began its final cruise aboard the Midway in October 1990 as part of Operation Desert Shield . From November to January 1991 , the air wing participated in numerous multinational exercises and operated continuously in the Persian Gulf . On 17 January 1991 , Operation Desert Storm began as CVW - 5 aircraft launched a night strike deep into Iraq . For the next 43 days the air wing flew 3 , 383 combat sorties and expended more than four million pounds of ordnance . In August 1991 , the USS Independence ( CV - 62 ) replaced the Midway . Also , in 1991 , in consideration of the surrounding communities the field carrier landing practices , known in Japan as NLP ’ s , was moved to the island of Iwo Jima , away as an interim measure until another landing field could be situated within of the base . USS " Independence " ( CV 62 ) deployed to the Persian Gulf in mid - 1992 and started the Southern Watch operation , a multi - national mission to monitor Iraqi compliance with the " no - fly zone " below the 32nd parallel north . In August 1995 , Independence and Carrier Air Wing 5 deployed to The Persian Gulf for a third time in support of Operation Southern Watch . In July 1998 , CVW - 5 moved again , to USS Kitty Hawk ( CV - 63 ) . The Kitty Hawk left its berth at Fleet Activities Yokosuka in early April 2000 to begin a routine deployment to the Western Pacific . The carrier had spent the previous five weeks in Yokosuka following a 12 - day sea trial in February and March . She first journeyed to Guam to rendezvous with the air wing , which was participating in the Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program at Andersen Air Force Base until 18 April 2000 . In addition to Guam , the ship made port calls throughout the Western Pacific and participated in Exercise Cobra Gold with the Royal Thai Armed Forces . Afghanistan and Iraq . The Kitty Hawk / CVW - 5 team got under way 1 October 2001 with a mere 24 - hour turnaround , after an accelerated sea trials and carrier qualifications period , carried out on short notice following the events of 11 Sept . . The Air Wing contingent included eight F / A - 18 Hornets with pilots and aircraft from VFA - 192 , VFA - 27 and VFA - 195 , three S - 3 Vikings from VS - 21 , and two SH - 60 Seahawks from HS - 14 . The initial plan for CVW - 5 was to provide air defense during the Kitty Hawk ’ s transit to station . The Air Wing was able to work around the Special Operations mission , however , and established a more offensive mission for themselves . Air Wing aviators flew 600 missions over Afghanistan in support of the United States ’ War on Terrorism , including more than 100 combat sorties during this at sea period . At the same time , two C - 2A Greyhound s from VRC - 30 Detachment 5 were shore based out of Bahrain providing logistical support to all four carriers on station , the Kitty Hawk , the USS Enterprise ( CVN - 65 ) , USS Theodore Roosevelt ( CVN - 71 ) , and the USS Carl Vinson ( CVN - 70 ) . The Providers from VRC - 30 ’ s Detachment 5 were the only C - 2A squadron in the region qualified for night operations . The Providers lived up to their name , supplying the four carrier battle groups with 1500 passengers and 350 , 000 pounds of cargo . From 30 October through 16 November 2001 , the strike element of the Air Wing participated in a weapons training detachment at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa . The Air Wing completed 50 sorties per day for the entire three - week period with a 98 % sortie completion rate . In all there were 640 sorties flown for a total of 1040 flight hours and over 250 tons of ordnance dropped . In spite of this rigorous training schedule , there were no mishaps or incidents of foreign object damage ( FOD ) , and no liberty incidents . All this was done despite being uncoupled from the Air Wing ’ s maintenance support , housed on the Kitty Hawk . In 2003 , the final cruise with the F - 14A Tomcat . CVW - 5 deployed to the Persian Gulf and supported Operation Iraqi Freedom flying from the USS Kitty Hawk . VF - 154 Black Knights deployed several aircraft to Al Udeid in Qatar and supported Special Operations Forces in Iraq alongside the USAF and Royal Air Force aircraft deployed to that airbase . Later that year , VF - 154 departed NAF Atsugi to transition to the F / A - 18F Super Hornet , and VFA - 27 transitioned to the F / A - 18E Super Hornet while VFA - 102 became part of CVW - 5 , flying the F / A - 18F . Recent operations . On 1 December 2005 , the United States Navy announced that USS George Washington ( CVN - 73 ) would replace USS Kitty Hawk ( CV - 63 ) in 2008 as the forward - deployed carrier in Japan and that it would also assume host carrier duties for forward deployed Carrier Air Wing 5 . On 21 August 2008 , USS George Washington ( CVN - 73 ) departed NAS North Island with CVW - 5 embarked for the first time . The George Washington arrived in Japan on 25 September 2008 . During fall 2010 , VFA - 195 Dambusters started transition to the Super Hornet at NAS Lemoore , CA . Carrier Air Wing Five will be the first wing totally equipped with Super Hornets and no legacy Hornets . In March 2012 , the VAQ - 136 Gauntlets were replaced by VAQ - 141 Shadowhawks , equipped with the EA - 18G Growler . In 14 September 2012 , the United States Navy announced that squadron HSM - 51 would receive MH - 60R Seahawk helicopters , replacing its current inventory of older SH - 60B and SH - 60F models . Also , squadron HSM - 77 will be transferred to Carrier Air Wing Five , and squadron HSC - 12 will replace squadron HS - 14 . These transfer will completed by December 2013 .