The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) concluded its first-ever Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) carrier qualifications (CQ) for Naval aviators while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, April 4.

The mission of the FRS is to train pilots, naval flight officers and maintainers on the specific front-line aircraft they have been assigned to fly. Some pilots may be training for current and upcoming deployments, where they will relieve currently-deployed pilots serving in fleet squadrons. Ford is currently the only carrier operating on the East Coast available to qualify pilots. The CQ included both day and night flight operations, and required the ship and her crew of more than 2,600 Sailors to work in unison with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 120 around the clock to help the squadron pilots successfully complete the final stages of their…Read More