List of United States Navy aircraft wings


This is a list of United States Navy aircraft wings. The U.S. Navy operates different types of aircraft wings. Carrier air wings are operational units made up of squadrons of different types of aircraft and which deploy aboard aircraft carriers. Type Wings are wings of a single type/model or type/model/series aircraft which do not deploy, they are "force providers" providing combat ready squadrons to deploying Carrier Air Wings and to other Navy or joint forces. Functional wings are wings which perform type wing functions but in addition to those functions they are also responsible for executing operational tasking of their subordinate squadrons. Lastly, the Navy operates Training Air Wings which train Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Student Naval Aviators and Student Naval Flight Officers qualifying them as Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers. All Navy aircraft wings are commanded by an officer holding the rank of Captain.

Currently Active Wings

Carrier Air Wings (CVW)

See Carrier air wing

Type and Functional Wings

Type Wings are non-deploying "force provider" wings which supply combat ready VFA, VAQ, VAW, HSC or HSM squadrons or Fleet Logistics Support detachments to Carrier Air Wings, or combat ready VAQ, VP, HM, HSC, HSM squadrons or detachments for "expeditionary" land based or shipboard detachment deployments. They also operate Fleet Replacement Squadrons. Functional Wings operate land based aircraft such as those of Fleet Logistics Support, Patrol and Reconnaissance or Strategic Communications Squadrons.
Type and Functional Wings are not assigned Tail Codes except for the Navy Reserve's Tactical Support Wing which retains the code "AF" from its former existence as Carrier Air Wing Reserve TWENTY and Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet which adopted the code "NL" from the disestablished CVW-15 for use by the wing's land based "expeditionary" squadrons only. Type Wing squadrons which deploy as a part of a Carrier Air Wing wear the tail code of that Carrier Air Wing. Type Wing squadrons which do not deploy as part of a Carrier Air Wing and Functional Wing squadrons are all assigned tail codes unique to each squadron. See U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft Tail Codes.
There have been numerous Type and Functional Wings throughout the history of the U. S. Navy. Type and Functional Wings have been established, disestablished or re-designated as the Navy has acquired different aircraft through the years. The tables below list the Type and Functional Wings which are active as of January 2019.

Type Wings

Functional Wings

Training Air Wings (TAW)

See Naval Air Training Command

Disestablished Wings or Air Wing Designations no longer in use

Disestablished Carrier Air Wings (CVW)

See Carrier air wing

Disestablished Type and Functional Wings or designations no longer in use

Disestablished Fleet Air Wings, Patrol Wings, and Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings or designations no longer in use

All Patrol Wings in existence on 1 Nov 1942 were redesignated Fleet Air Wings. Additional Fleet Air Wings were established during WWII and as late as 1963. All Fleet Air Wings still in existence in 1973 were redesignated Patrol Wings except for FAW-10 which was disestablished. All Patrol Wings still in existence in 1999 were redesignated Patrol and Reconnaissance Wings.

Disestablished Training Air Wings (TAW)

See Naval Air Training Command

Disestablished Carrier Air Groups (Ship Named Groups, CVG, CVLG, CVEG, CVAG, CVBG, CVSG) and Air Task Groups (ATG) or designations no longer in use

Prior to 20 Dec 1963 aircraft squadrons which operated from aircraft carriers were organized into Carrier Air Groups. There were sometimes variations of the Air Group designation adding a modifying letter between the V and the G to indicate the type of aircraft carrier from which the group operated: E-Escort Carrier, L-Light Carrier, B-Large Carrier, A-Medium Carrier and from 1960 to 1976; S-Antisubmarine Carrier. On 20 December 1963 all existing Carrier Air Groups except for the CVSGs were redesignated Carrier Air Wings.

Note: the parenthetical,, appended to some Carrier Air Group designations below are not a part of the Group's designation. They are added to indicate that the designation was used more than one time during the history of U.S. Navy Naval Aviation and to specify which use of the designation is indicated. There is not necessarily any connection between two or more Carrier Air Groups which shared the same designation.

Ship-Named Air Groups established pre WWII

Aircraft squadrons operating from the Navy's first Aircraft Carriers prior to WWII were assigned to that aircraft carrier and were organizationally grouped into that carrier's "air group". On 1 July 1938 the "Carrier Air Group" was formally established as a separate unit and the previously informally named air groups were titled "name of ship Air Group". Carrier Air Groups were permanently assigned to a specific Aircraft Carrier and carried that Aircraft Carrier's name.
With the massive buildup of Aircraft Carriers and Carrier Air Groups after the U.S. entry into WWII, the Carrier Air Group designation scheme was changed to drop the name of the Aircraft Carrier to which the Air Group was assigned and a numbering system was adopted. By this time CV 1 had been converted to a Seaplane Tender, and CV 2, CV 5, CV 7 and CV 8 had been sunk. The Air Groups of the remaining CV 3 and CV 4 were redesignated CVG-3 and CVG-4 respectively and CV 6's "Enterprise Air Group" was disestablished and a new CVG-6 was established and assigned to the ship. In 1943 new CVGs 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 were established and the practice of numbering CVGs with the hull number of the Aircraft Carrier to which they were assigned ceased.

Fleet Carrier Carrier Air Groups (CVG) and Large Carrier (Midway class) Carrier Air Groups (CVBG)

Carrier Air Groups still in existence on 15 November 1946 were redesignated in accordance with a new Carrier Air Group Designation scheme: "A" for Air Groups assigned to medium carriers "B" for those assigned to large carriers, "L" for those assigned to light carriers and "E" for those assigned to remaining WWII escort carriers.

Medium Carrier Carrier Air Groups (CVAG)

Carrier Air Groups still in existence on 1 Sep 1948 were redesignated in accordance with a new Carrier Air Group Designation scheme: All groups designated CVAG or CVBG were redesignated CVG. CVLG and CVEG groups were disestablished.
Air Task Groups were non-established carrier air group equivalents the first two of which were created during the Korean War when the Navy's requirement for CVGs exceeded the statutory limit on them. They were composed of squadrons transferred from existing CVGs reducing the number of squadrons in those CVGs from the then typical five total VF/VA squadrons to four total VF/VA squadrons reducing the number of squadrons in those CVGs but giving the Navy more "CVGs".
In the 1960s some WWII Essex class aircraft carriers were designated as "Anti-Submarine Carriers" and were paired with newly established "Anti-Submarine Carrier Air Groups". CVSGs consisted of Helicopter Antisubmarine squadrons of SH-3 Sea Kings and Air Antisubmarine squadrons of S-2 Trackers along with a detachment of airborne early warning E-1 Tracers from Airborne Early Warning squadrons and a detachment A-4 Skyhawks from Anti-Submarine Fighter squadrons for self defense. The CVSGs were not included in the redesignation of Carrier Air Groups s to Carrier Air Wings s in 1963 and therefore they were the last "Carrier Air Groups" to exist in the U.S. Navy.

See Carrier air wing