When Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991, the United States Navy had six carrier battle groups deployed in the region — more carriers in a single theater than the Navy had assembled in decades. USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) was among them, operating in the Red Sea as part of the massive coalition air campaign that had been months in the building. Carrier Air Wing Eight flew strikes from her deck against Iraqi targets throughout the six-week air war. Theodore Roosevelt was the newest nuclear carrier in the fleet when she arrived, and her deployment to Desert Storm was the baptism by fire that her crew had trained for.
The Ship
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, commissioned on October 25, 1986, and named for the twenty-sixth President of the United States — a Navy veteran, the advocate of American sea power, and the man who sent the Great White Fleet around the world in 1907 as a statement of American naval reach. She was the fourth of the Nimitz class, built at Newport News Shipbuilding, and at her commissioning she embodied the most capable carrier aviation platform in the world. She was homeported at Norfolk, Virginia. By the time Desert Storm began, she had completed her initial workup and operational certification and was fully ready for combat operations.
The Desert Storm Deployment
Theodore Roosevelt deployed to the Red Sea as part of the coalition force that assembled in response to Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Carrier Air Wing Eight — equipped with F-14 Tomcats, A-6E Intruders, EA-6B Prowlers, A-7E Corsairs, F/A-18 Hornets, E-2C Hawkeyes, and S-3 Vikings — was embarked for the deployment. The Desert Storm air campaign was the last major combat deployment for the A-7E Corsair II, which had served the Navy since Vietnam; TR's air wing flew the Corsair's final combat sorties in American naval service.
From the Red Sea, CVW-8 aircraft flew strikes deep into Iraq and Kuwait — crossing Saudi Arabia and Jordan to reach targets that carrier aircraft operating from the Persian Gulf could reach more directly, but which the Red Sea position also serviced as part of the coordinated multi-axis air campaign. The distances were significant, requiring tanker support and careful coordination, but the strikes were effective. Theodore Roosevelt's crew sustained combat operations for the full duration of the air war.
The Air Wing and the Last A-7 Combat Cruise
The significance of TR's 1991 deployment extends beyond Desert Storm itself. The A-7E Corsair II squadrons aboard her were flying the final combat cruise of a type that had served the Navy since 1967, through Vietnam, through Earnest Will, through Libya. When the cease-fire came and TR's air wing stood down from combat operations, the A-7 went with it — retired from the fleet as the F/A-18 completed the transition to an all-Hornet light attack force. The men who flew the Corsair off Theodore Roosevelt's deck in 1991 were the last to fly it in combat. That is the kind of historical weight that a deployment accumulates only when the timing lines up exactly right.
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Legacy
USS Theodore Roosevelt remains in active service, homeported at Naval Station Norfolk. Her 1991 Desert Storm deployment established the ship's reputation as a frontline combat carrier and launched a career that has included deployments to the Arabian Sea after September 11, multiple OIF cruises, and decades of sustained presence operations. The Big Stick — the nickname the ship carries from TR's famous diplomatic maxim — has lived up to the name through thirty-five years of service. The men and women who took her to combat in 1991 were the first. There have been many since.