“Creating the Point of the Spear”: The Deployment of Kitty Hawk (CV-63) as an Afloat Forward Staging Base during Operation Enduring Freedom

Authors

• Justin B. Blanton, Naval History and Heritage CommandFollow

Abstract

On 27 September 2001, Kitty Hawk (CV-63) received orders to deploy to the northern Arabian Sea to serve as an afloat forward staging base for joint special operations forces (SOF) tasked with conducting raids into Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the U.S. military response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September. In order to accommodate the SOF, the aging, large-deck carrier reconfigured to deploy with fewer than 20 aircraft: Eight F/A-18Cs, three S-3Bs, two C-2As, and two SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawks. On 1 October Kitty Hawk departed Yokosuka, Japan, transited to Masirah Island, Oman, and embarked Task Force Sword, a composite Army command. Comprising more than 600 soldiers, the task force included Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta and 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). The SOAR consisted of some 20 helicopters, including MH-47D and MH-47E Chinooks, MH-60K and MH60L Black Hawks, and Little Birds. In this configuration, Kitty Hawk commenced mission tasking in support of critical overland strike operations into Afghanistan. This paper discusses Kitty Hawk’s unconventional role in OEF with an eye toward flexible uses of carriers in the event of a great power conflict.