LT. Eric Meyer, USN, (right) a pilot assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 106 (VFA-106), instructs Colonel-General Kostyantyn Morozov, Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (left), as Major Krylov Alexander of the Ukrainian Air Force (center) interprets, on how to use the oxygen mask in the F/A-18D Hornet aircraft. The aircraft is being prepared for the flight out to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN-73) which is operating off the Virginia Capes

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.