Onboard the USN Navy (USN) Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69), AIRMAN (AN) John Lujan (foreground) takes time out of his day for fitness to ensure he is ready for the upcoming semi-annual physical fitness assessment. The EISENHOWER and embarked Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) are underway in the Atlantic Ocean participating in their Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX)

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.