Tag Archives: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)

VS22 Looking Flat

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It is just a little bit over 80 years after the Plum/Pensacola/Republic Convoy was ordered to make for Australia instead of reinforcing the Philippines– a good call because the 2,000 mobilized National Guardsmen and two warships (the cruiser USS Pensacola and gunboat USS Niagra) of Task Group 15.5 would have had little-to-no effect on the disastrous Dec. 1941-May 42 Fall of the Philippines, only adding to the number of 78,000 surrendered American and Allied troops.

However, in a reboot of naval power on display, Valiant Shield 2022 was just held in the Philippine Sea and the ninth biennial U.S.-only exercise was a decent show of strength, at least in terms of carrier power.

VS22 this year included both two carrier strike groups —USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 embarked, and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) with CVW 9 embarked– along with USS Tripoli (LHA-7), the latter of which recently showed off a 16-strong F-35B loadout as part of the “Lightning Carrier” concept.

Roll that beautiful bean footage:

How about those stills: 

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gray Gibson)

On the downside, I would love to see two or three times that amount of escorts around three flattops, as the carriers are only trailed by two elderly Ticos (which are soon to be retired)– USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) and USS Antietam (CG 54)— and three Burkes: USS Benfold (DDG 65), USS Spruance (DDG 111), and the recently-rebuilt USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62).

It really is sad that the vast squadrons of CGNs, CG-converted DLGs, DDG-2s, Spru-Cans, Knoxes, and FFG-7s were slaughtered in the 1990s and early 2000s without replacement other than the Navy continuing to order $1.8-Billion-per-hull Burkes.

Appropriately, the pinnacle event of VS22 was the sinking exercise (SINKEX) on the decommissioned FFG-7, ex-USS Vandegrift (FFG 48).

Talk About a Recruiting Poster

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STRAIT OF MALACCA (June 18, 2021) The Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) transits the South China Sea with the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67). Reagan is part of Task Force 70/Carrier Strike Group 5, conducting underway operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Rawad Madanat) 210618-N-JW440-2053

The Reagan CSG, made up of Destroyer Squadron 15, Carrier Air Wing 5, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), and Commander, Task Force 70, has lately been spinning up in the Indian Ocean, covering the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Gipper and the Boxer

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You have to love a good photo-ex, as they are naval history in the making.

These shots, credited to Mass Communication Specialists Brian P. Caracci and Erwin Jacob V. Miciano, show Carrier Strike Group 5 flagship USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) along with USS Boxer (LHD 4), trailed by the cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) and another unidentified Tico as well as a late flight Burke DDG of DESRON 15, 6 October 2019.

Either way, it is a lot of firepower in just five hulls if you think about it. We are talking 300+ VLS cells, 100~ aircraft, five 127mm guns, etc.

Talisman Sabre ’19

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I just love PHOTOEX shots!

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Anaid Banuelos Rodriguez)

TASMAN SEA (July 11, 2019) The U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), top left, the U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), left, the Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Regina (FFH 334), center, the Royal Australian Navy Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ship HMAS Canberra (L02), top right, and the Legend-class cutter USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752), right, transit by the amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20) in a photo exercise (PHOTOEX) during Talisman Sabre 2019. Green Bay, part of the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group, with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is currently participating in Talisman Sabre 2019 off the coast of Northern Australia. A bilateral, biennial event, Talisman Sabre is designed to improve U.S. and Australian combat training, readiness and interoperability through realistic, relevant training necessary to maintain regional security, peace, and stability.

What a difference 75 years makes

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Of note, this month is the 75th anniversary of Battle of the Philippine Sea that left three Japanese carriers and 600 irreplaceable pilots and crew of the IJN’s fleet air arm at the bottom of the Marianas.

That fact makes the below image of an American and Japanese flattop in joint operations recently something that Marc Mitscher/Ray Spruance and Jisaburō Ozawa/Kakuji Kakuta, the respective fleet commanders in that epic sea clash, would no doubt find poignant in a way.

SOUTH CHINA SEA (June 11, 2019) The Navy's forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), left, operates with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183), June 11, 2019. The ships, along with the JMSDF destroyers JS Murasame (DD 101) and JS Akebono (DD 108) conducted communication checks, tactical maneuvering drills and liaison officer exchanges, June 10-12, designed to address common maritime security priorities and enhance interoperability at sea. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of JMSDF/Released)

190611-N-AB123-0002 SOUTH CHINA SEA (June 11, 2019) The Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) operates with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183), June 11, 2019. The ships, along with the JMSDF destroyers JS Murasame (DD 101) and JS Akebono (DD 108) conducted communication checks, tactical maneuvering drills and liaison officer exchanges, June 10-12, designed to address common maritime security priorities and enhance interoperability at sea. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of JMSDF/Released)

That’s a whole lot of mobile real estate

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WESTERN PACIFIC (Nov. 12, 2017) The aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and their strike groups are underway, conducting operations, in international waters as part of a three-carrier strike force exercise. The U.S. Navy has patrolled the Indo-Asia Pacific region routinely for more than 70 years promoting regional security, stability, and prosperity. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. James Griffin/Released)

Currently, the Navy has 11 commissioned nuclear aircraft carriers in service (as well as two under construction and two conventional carriers laid up pending disposal). Well, for the first time in a long time, 7 of those 11 are underway with three– USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)— fully armed and conducting operations forward deployed in the Western Pacific. Those three flattops are currently off the Korean Peninsula with vessels of the Republic of Korean Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.

WESTERN PACIFIC (Nov. 12, 2017) Three F/A-18E Super Hornets, assigned to the Eagles of Strike Fighter Attack Squadron (VFA) 115, fly in formation over the aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and their strike groups along with ships from the Republic of Korea Navy as they transit the Western Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Aaron B. Hicks/Released)

There haven’t been seven carriers underway since 2004 and it’s been a decade since three carrier strike groups operated together in the big blue of the Pacific during exercise Valiant Shield 2007.

“It is a rare opportunity to train with two aircraft carriers together, and even rarer to be able to train with three,” said U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander, Adm. Scott Swift in the Navy’s presser on the ops in the West Pac. “Multiple carrier strike force operations are very complex, and this exercise in the Western Pacific is a strong testament to the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s unique ability and ironclad commitment to the continued security and stability of the region.”

Let’s roll that beautiful bean footage: