PACIFIC OCEAN. – It started as an ambitious experiment. Cmdr. Kenneth Whiting, a respected naval aviator, initiated the idea to convert a cargo ship into a vessel able “to take planes around with the fleet.” Two years later, on March 20, 1922, the former USS Jupiter (Collier #3) recommissioned as

Sailors and Marines aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) received a phone call during the Super Bowl from President Joe Biden Feb. 8.

Capt. Elaine A. Collins, of Shoreline Washington, relieved Capt. Todd E. Whalen, a Virginia Beach, Virginia, native, as commander of Destroyer Squadron 9 during an Oct. 27 change-of-command ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the Arabian Gulf.

Elements of the Nimitz Carrier Strike group, including the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 and guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) pulled into Manama, Bahrain for a scheduled port visit in support of logistics and maintenance Oct. 7-11.

While movies such as Top Gun and Midway give the pilots involved in naval aviation the spotlight, the aircraft themselves are just as important to the success of flight operations as the pilots and maintainers.