The clip documents a year of footage compiled from squadrons stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana
The super cool footage in this post is a montage from the East Coast VFA squadrons of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. This video was first released at the annual Strike Fighter Ball 2018. It documents a year of footage compiled from squadrons stationed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana. According to the video description, the clip provides a look into U.S. Naval Aviators “work hard play hard” mentality.
As explained in Carrier Aviation in the 21st Century, Aircraft carriers and their units in detail by Thomas Newdick, on a strategic level, the U.S. Navy is continuing to react to the ‘pivot to the Pacific’. Vide-Admiral Robert L. Thomas commented: ‘We’re slowly shifting from a 50/50 mix in the US Navy to a 40 percent Atlantic, 60 percent Pacific mix’, he added, describing the swing away from traditional areas of operation.
Admiral Harry Harris, the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, said in 2013: ‘Our president and secretary of defense are clear. As a nation, we will rebalance to the Pacific and we will work closely with our allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.’
While this strategy was set in motion under the Barack Obama administration since President Donald Trump took office in 2017 the importance of the Asia-Pacific area of operations has only increased. In October 2017 the U.S. Navy took the unusual step of deploying three Nimitz-class carriers in the Seventh Fleet’s area of operations (AOO) simultaneously, underlining its presence in the region unambiguously.
However, recent budgetary restrictions have severely impacted the Carrier Strike Groups (CSG), with intense deployment schedules, and little time for rest and recuperation of assets and personnel.