‘AVTN-68’ Completes First Cat and Trap Evolution
Since switching homeports in an epic way from Bremerton to Norfolk this summer, with elements of CVW-17 aboard just in case she was needed off Cuba or Venezuela, the 51-year-old USS Nimitz has shifted gears to training, a sort of unofficial re-rate to AVTN-68, leaving her old Carrier Strike Group 11 behind on the West Coast.
Last month, her sister, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), left Norfolk for Newport News Shipbuilding to begin her multi-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) midlife maintenance and modernization phase, which is expected to run until November 2031-ish.
That left HST’s regular air group, the historic Carrier Air Wing 1, without a deck to call home and Carrier Strike Group 8 without its namesake carrier.
Enter Nimitz, who, along with the “Gladiators” of Fleet Replenishment Squadron VFA-106, hosted CVW-1 squadrons and the budding aviators of Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) Air Wings 1 and 2 for a week of underway carrier evolutions with CSG-8.
A T-45C Goshawk, attached to Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) Training Air Wing 2, approaches the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) for landing during student naval aviator carrier qualifications in the Atlantic Ocean, Nov. 4, 2026. Nimitz is underway in the U.S. 2nd Fleet area of operations in support of Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic training and readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alyssa J. Boling)
Aircraft conduct flight ops onboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, October 28, 2026. Nimitz is currently underway in the Atlantic as a part of Carrier Strike Group 8. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Recruit Adam Sytkowski.)
During the overall underway, Nimitz supported 103 sorties, 442 arrested landings, and 152 touch-and-goes, ranging from assorted Rhinos and Hawkeyes to T-45Cs, a platform that is sadly on its way out.
Slated to remain in service until at least March, when the “99 percent complete” JFK comes online, the Queen of the Fleet will likely have a few more training flights in the next four months.