The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) under the authority of the Secretary of Defense. Originally formed as United States Atlantic Fleet (USLANTFLT) in 1906, it has been an integral part of the defense of the United States of America since the early 20th century. In 2002, the Fleet comprised over 118,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel serving on 186 ships and in 1,300 aircraft, with an area of responsibility ranging over most of the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole, the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Central and South America.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington.
The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. Its area of responsibility encompasses approximately 2.5 million square miles, and includes the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean. It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in Bahrain. Fifth Fleet/NAVCENT is a component command of, and reports to, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or "mission specialist" functions, depending on the type of aircraft. Until 1966, their duties were performed by both commissioned officer and senior enlisted naval aviation observers (NAO).
The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) provides materiel support for aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. It is one of the Echelon II Navy systems commands (SYSCOM), and was established in 1966 as the successor to the Navy's Bureau of Naval Weapons.
Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island, at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (NBC), and the home port of several aircraft carriers of the United States Navy.
Electronic Attack Squadron 136 (VAQ-136) "Gauntlets" is a United States Navy Electronic attack squadron flying the EA-18G Growler and is currently attached to Carrier Air Wing Two, deploy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson a composite unit made up of a wide array of aircraft performing a variety of combat and support missions including F2T2EA. The squadron is currently stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guard aviators", although they complete the same undergraduate flight training as Navy and Marine Corps crewed aircraft pilots, and are awarded the same aviation breast insignia.
A carrier air wing is an operational naval aviation organization composed of several aircraft squadrons and detachments of various types of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Organized, equipped and trained to conduct modern US Navy carrier air operations while embarked aboard aircraft carriers, the various squadrons in an air wing have different but complementary missions, and provide most of the striking power and electronic warfare capabilities of a carrier battle group (CVBG). While the CVBG term is still used by other nations, the CVBG in US parlance is now known as a carrier strike group (CSG).
A Patrol Wing (PatWing) was a United States Navy aviation unit with the commander of a Patrol Wing known as the Commodore, the ComPatWing or COMPATWING. From 1 November 1942 to 30 June 1973 Patrol Wings were designated "Fleet Air Wings". On 26 March 1999 all then existing Pacific Fleet Patrol Wings were redesignated Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings and on 1 June 1999 all then existing Atlantic Fleet Patrol Wings were redesigned Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings with the Commodore designated as COMPATRECONWING or ComPatReconWing.
Electromagnetic Attack Squadron 139 (VAQ-139), also known as the "Cougars", is an EA-18G Growler squadron of the United States Navy. They specialize in electromagnetic attack and are currently stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. Part of Carrier Air Wing Seventeen, the Cougars deploy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz
The Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for the United States Naval aviation units operating primarily in the Atlantic under United States Fleet Forces Command. Type Commanders are in administrative control (ADCON), and in some cases operational control (OPCON) of certain types of assets assigned to the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. AIRLANT is responsible for the material readiness, administration, training, and inspection of units/squadrons under their command, and for providing operationally ready air squadrons and aircraft carriers to the fleet.
U.S. Navy type commands perform administrative, personnel, and operational training functions in the United States Navy for a "type" of weapon system within a fleet organization.
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 1 is a maritime patrol aircraft wing of the United States Navy, responsible to Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific. It is located at Misawa Air Base, Japan, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base.
Kenneth Ray Whitesell is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, and the past Commander, Naval Air Forces. He retired on September 7, 2023.
The Naval Air Force Reserve is the naval aviation component of the United States Navy Reserve. Headquartered at Naval Air Station North Island, California, the organization has control over three aircraft wings, as well as the Navy Air Logistics Office, and Naval Air Facility Washington. The organization retains control over multiple unique assets, controlling the U.S. Navy's entire intra-theater airlift capability within Fleet Logistics Support Wing, as well as all Navy adversary training units, subordinate to the Tactical Support Wing.
The Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet is a three-star US Navy command based at Naval Air Station North Island, California. COMNAVAIRPAC is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for all United States Navy naval aviation units assigned to the Pacific Fleet. NAVAIRPAC is responsible for the materiel readiness, administration, training, and inspection of units/squadrons under its command, and for providing operationally ready air squadrons and aircraft carriers to the fleet. Since 2001, COMNAVAIRPAC has been dual-hatted with COMNAVAIRFOR, Commander, Naval Air Forces, creating a lead-follow arrangement with his East Coast counterpart COMNAVAIRLANT.
