Military unit
Carrier Air Wing Fifteen
(CVW-15) is a former
United States Navy
aircraft carrier air wing that was decommissioned on 31 March 1995. It was previously known as Carrier Air Group Fifteen (CVG-15) before 1963 before being renamed in December of that year.
History
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Early years and Vietnam War
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Carrier Air Group 15 was established on 5 April 1951, and was deployed to the
Korean War
in September of that year on board the
USS
Antietam
. The squadron was made up of reserve squadrons during the two cruises during the Korean War. Starting in 1960, CVG-15 would begin a two decade long attachment with the
USS
Coral Sea
that would continue when in 1963,
[
citation needed
]
all CVGs were re-designated as Carrier Air Wings.
[1]
With this, CVG-15 became Carrier Air Wing 15. CVW-15 however did deploy with the
USS
Constellation
only once in 1966 during the
Vietnam War
. During the evacuation of
Saigon
in 1975, CVW-15's aircraft covered the helicopters used to rescue the civilians fleeing the
Invasion
.
Post Vietnam
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]
CVW-15 made their final deployment on board the Coral Sea in 1977. This cruise was the only time that the F-4J Phantom and EA-6A Electric Intruder part of CVW-15. After this, in 1979, CVW-15 deployed for the first on a different carrier than Coral Sea in around 13 years when they deployed with
USS
Kitty Hawk
and with new
F-14A Tomcat
and
S-3A Viking
.
In 1983, CVW-15 deployed on the new
Nimitz
-class carrier
USS
Carl Vinson
's first post-shakedown cruise.
[
citation needed
]
This cruise was significant as it was an around the world cruise that involved stops in
St. Thomas
,
Monaco
,
Abidjan
,
Perth
,
Subic Bay
,
British Hong Kong
,
Sasebo
,
Pusan
,
Pearl Harbour
and the moving the Vinson's homeport from
Norfolk
, Virginia on the west coast to
Alameda
, California, in the
San Francisco Bay Area
.
[2]
During their time with the
Carl Vinson
, they took part in RIMPAC 84' and 86'.
[
citation needed
]
During the 1986-to-1987 cruise in the North Pacific,
VF-51
and
VF-111
carried the multiple tail codes of other carrier air wings to confuse Soviet Naval Aviation patrols which carrier VF-51 and 111 was assigned to.
[3]
In July 1988, during the
Olympics
in Seoul, CVW-15 embarked on board
Carl Vinson
and operated off the coast of
South Korea
.
[4]
In 1989, they also took part in the large naval exercise PACEX 89.
[
citation needed
]
Post Cold War and Final years
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In 1990, CVW-15 made their last cruise with the
Carl Vinson
before moving back to the
Kitty Hawk
for the rest of their remaining service in the US Navy. This cruise was also the last cruise for the
A-7 Corsair
in CVW-15 before
VA-27
and
VA-97
converted to the
F/A-18A
as well for the
SH-3H Sea King
which was replaced by the
SH-60F Oceanhawk/HH-60H Rescuehawk
in the case of HS-4.
On 13 January 1993, VFA-97's CDR. Kevin J. Thomas led a night air strike of 110 coalition aircraft, including 35 aircraft from the
Kitty Hawk
, against Iraq SAM Command and Control sites in Southern Iraq. This in response to Iraqi violations of U.N. resolutions. On the 18th, an airstrike made of 29 aircraft including F/A-18As and F-14As and
E-2Cs
in support from CVW-15 was called off when Iraq moved mobile SAM sites into Southern Iraq.
[5]
NL700 was not painted as a CAG bird, instead in the squadron standard visibility paint.
The last visibility painted S-3B Viking of VS-37 reflecting the diversity of paint schemes of the squadron in 1992.
On the 23rd, another incident occurred when Iraqi AAA fired on an A-6E SWIP Intruder from
VA-52
and two F/A-18As from CVW-15 over Southern Iraq. In response, the Intruder attacked the AAA site with a 1,000 pound bomb.
[5]
Between June and December 1994, CVW-15 made their last deployment before being inactivated in 1995 along with many squadrons that were part of CVW-15.
[
citation needed
]
During that deployment, the air wing participated in the "first anti-submarine warfare prosecution of Chinese
Han class sub contact
" as well as the tracking of the larger
Oscar II Class Submarine
between 7 and 8 July,
[5]
of which were designed to attack American
Carrier Battlegroups
. The Oscar II Submarine was most likely the
K-442
of the Russian Pacific Fleet.
References
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