US Navy (USN) Aviation Ordnancemen (AO) onboard the USN Aircraft Carrier USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) attach a cargo pennant onto a contractor SA-332 Super Puma helicopter assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Sirius Class Combat Stores Ship USNS SPICA (T-AFS 9) during a replenishment at sea (RAS) in the Persian Gulf. The JOHN F. KENNEDY and Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17) are deployed in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

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.