Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Alan Stone, from Oklahoma City, Okla., fires his M-16A rifle during weapons certifications held aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)
Summary
Aboard USS Ronald Reagan Sept. 29, 2003 -- Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Alan Stone, from Oklahoma City, Okla., fires his M-16A rifle during weapons certifications held aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Weapons department organized the gun shoot on elevator four to update qualifications for ships crew. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is underway in the Atlantic Ocean to provide a carrier qualification platform for Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17). U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate 2nd Class Chad McNeeley. File# 030930-N-0696M-006
Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for carrier-based aircraft. In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion) and CVAN (attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion). The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley (CV-1) on 20 March 1922.