US Navy aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush was thrust into the spotlight in June following the shoot down of a Syrian Su-22 by one of the carrier’s embarked Super Hornets. Combat Aircraft went aboard the carrier just three days after the incident for an exclusive report from the eastern Mediterranean.
USS GEORGE H. W. BUSH
A FOGGY JANUARY 21, 2017, saw the US Navy’s USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) depart home waters for a planned seven month deployment to the Fifth and Sixth Fleet Areas of Responsibility (AORs), primarily to support the ongoing Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’ (OIR) and US interests in the Middle East. With Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) embarked and a 6,000-strong CSG team manning the various ships, one of America’s ultimate symbols of power projection was on the move.