Spotlight!
Yokosuka-based USS Ronald Reagan conducts flight operations
By
U.S. Air Force August 15, 2023
Petty Officer 2nd Class Caleb Dyal
U.S. Air Force August 15, 2023
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Caleb Dyal ()
CELEBES SEA (Aug. 8, 2023) Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 3rd Class Billie Edwards, from Lexington, Kentucky, directs an F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to the Dambusters of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 195, on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), during flight operations in the Celebes Sea, August 8, 2023. The Dambusters earned their nickname on May 1, 1951 when the squadron's Skyraiders destroyed the heavily defended and strategically positioned Hwacheon Dam in North Korea with aerial torpedoes by making precise low level runs. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region.