Carrier Air Wing Three

The wing was deployed on Saratoga until the ship was torpedoed in January 1942. Part of the wing was then deployed aboard USS Yorktown and helped cripple the Japanese aircraft carrier Sōryū during the Battle of Midway. The wing was also involved in the first carrier strikes against Tokyo, flying from USS Yorktown.[3]

In 1947, CVAG-3 was assigned to USS Kearsarge and made two deployments to the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea in 1947 and 1948.

The air wing was assigned to USS Leyte in 1949. In 1950, Leyte was recalled from the Mediterranean Sea and was deployed to Korea. The Wing flew in support of the Pusan Perimeter, the invasion on Wonsan and, and strikes on Hungnam Salient and Yalu River Bridges. The wing accumulated over 11,000 operational hours flying against the North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces.[3] Following this deployment, CVG-3 made two more deployments to the Med aboard Leyte in 1951 and 1952-53, followed by a world cruise aboard USS Tarawa in 1953-54. In 1955-56, the wing was again in the Med aboard USS Ticonderoga, before being assigned to the newly commissioned USS Saratoga in 1957. The wing stayed aboard Saratoga until she entered her Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) in 1981.

During refresher training in the Caribbean Sea in December 1962, CVW-3 was on station during the Cuban Missile Crisis.[3] Carrier Air Group 3 was redesignated Carrier Air Wing 3 on 20 December 1963.[2]

At end of the 1960s the air wing took on Reserve Squadrons during the USS Pueblo incident. CVW-3 squadrons embarked with the Royal Navy's 892 Naval Air Squadron for two weeks, and flew in response to a number of events in the Mediterranean including; hijackings, internal fighting in Jordan, and the death of Egyptian President Nasser.[3]

In the early 1970s CVW-3 began the task of testing the new CV Concept, to incorporating the missions of attack squadrons and anti-submarine submarine squadrons. After completing their missions successfully the CV Concept was validated and implemented. In 1972, CVW-3 was given 60 hours notice before deploying around South Africa en route to Vietnam. Operations there saw CVW-3 provide strike and support sorties in South Vietnam, Alpha strikes, AAW missions, and reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam. The wings first kill came on 21 June when an F-4J Phantom II shot down a MIG-21. Dropping over 14,000 tons of ordnance, CVW-3 spent 175 days on the line engaged in combat operations against North Vietnam.[3]

CVW-3 was assigned to USS John F. Kennedy, in 1981 and participated in air strikes against Lebanon in support of US Marines stationed there.

In January 1989 two CVW-3 F-14 Tomcats shot down two hostile Libyan MIG-23 fighters over international waters in the Central Mediterranean. In August 1990, CVW-3 and John F. Kennedy departed on a no-notice Mediterranean/Red Sea deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield, and air crews later flew combat sorties in association with Operation Desert Storm against Iraq.

In 1994–95, CVW-3 made a single deployment aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Mediterranean Sea. For the next deployment in 1996–97, the wing transferred to USS Theodore Roosevelt. The wing concluded a successful 24th Mediterranean Sea/Persian Gulf deployment aboard the USS Enterprise in 1998–99. During this time, the wing aircraft participated in Operation Desert Fox, a four-day strike campaign against Iraq in December 1998.[3]

In 2000, CVW-3, was assigned to USS Harry S. Truman on her maiden deployment. The early months of 2001 saw the air wing operating in the Persian Gulf, conducting Response Options strikes, to include the largest strike over Iraq since Operation Desert Fox, in support of Operation Southern Watch and maritime interdiction operations. This was the longest period any carrier had spent in the Gulf since Operation Desert Storm. The Air Wing completed its 25th deployment and returned home on 23 May 2001.[3]

On 5 December 2002, CVW-3 departed for its 26th deployment to the Mediterranean, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and on 20 March 2003, CVW-3 began taking part in the Iraq War, flying defensive counter air missions in Western Iraq, launching aircraft off the coast of Egypt in the South Eastern Mediterranean.[3] CVW-3 made four deployments aboard Harry S. Truman to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean between 2004 and 2010.

On 7 January 2013 Captain Sara A. Joyner, USN, took command of Carrier Air Wing Three, becoming the first woman to lead a U.S. Navy carrier air wing as well as the air wing's 57th CAG. Before assuming command of CVW-3, Joyner had served as its deputy commander.[4][5] On 22 December 2013, Joyner was superseded by her air wing's deputy commander (DCAG), Capt. George Wikoff.[6] After a period at NAVAIRLANT, in 2016 Joyner is Director, Senate Liaison Office, Office of Legislative Liaison, U.S. Department of the Navy.

CVW-3 completed a deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet in April 2014, after nine months at sea. The air wing successfully supported US and coalition troops in Afghanistan, operated with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, and conducted multiple liberty-as-a-mission port calls to Bahrain, Dubai, France and Spain.

In 2015, CVW-3 was reassigned to USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean in 2016 and in 2021. On 31 March 2021, CVW-3 launched flight operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its carrier strike group were expected to lead Task Force 50, which oversees Operation Inherent Resolve's naval strike operations.[7]

• F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
• EA-18G Growler
• E-2 Hawkeye
• C-2 Greyhound

• MH-60R Seahawk
• MH-60S Knighthawk