Members of the Marine detachment from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71) watch as members of Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) Team 8 conduct a demonstration during boarding team training aboard the fleet oiler USNS JOSHUA HUMPRHEYS (T-AO-188). SEAL Team 8 provided boarding teams to assist in the enforcement of U.N. trade sanctions against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm

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.