The Ranger was the Pacific Fleet's dependable workhorse—a Forrestal-class carrier that never grabbed headlines but never let her country down. From Vietnam to Desert Storm, CVA/CV-61 was there when it mattered. She was the last conventional carrier on the West Coast and among the last to conduct combat operations before her decommissioning in 1993. To the generations of sailors who served on her, the Ranger was where they earned their salt.