An air wing’s duties encompass a tremendously complicated set of plans to protect and decimate any threat to a Task Force, be it from the skies or the depths of the seas.  Its mission is to assist in the planning, control, coordination and integration of nine air wing squadrons in support of carrier operations.

This covers all phases from aerial photography; destruction of enemy ships and submarines; electronic intelligence; interception and destruction of enemy aircraft and missiles in all-weather conditions; airborne electronic countermeasures; in-flight refueling; search and rescue, and myriad of other duties.

The squadrons that make up an air wing include variants of the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter; early warning E-2 Hawkeye; C-2 Greyhound logistics support, and MH-60 Knighthawk helicopters.

In WW II CVW-8 was born on 1 June, 1943 and was assigned to the USS Intrepid until 1945 when it was decommissioned.  It was brought back in April 1951 and has been in continuous operation since that date, covering major world conflicts in Iran, Libya, Beirut, the Gulf War, Bosnia, and the Global War on Terror.

While assigned to USS Nimitz in 1980, it was featured in a Hollywood production called The Final Countdown with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen.

Size	4 1/4" (11 cm) tall, 4" (10 cm) wide
Material	Fully embroidered polyester thread