President William Jefferson Clinton shakes hands with people in the audience after addressing sailors and civilians on base closure issues during a visit to the air station. Clinton will also visit sailors on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS CARL VINSON (CVN-70) and the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS ARKANSAS (CGN-41)

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.