1940s-50s Originally established as CVBG-74 (Battle Air Group) on 1 May 1945, it was renamed CVBG-1 on 15 November 1946 before finally being renamed CVG-2 in 1948. During that time, CVG-2 was assigned to (CVB-41). CVG-2 later would see action during the Korean War on board the
Essex-class carriers ,
Valley Forge and
Philippine Sea. During the war, they supported the
Inchon Invasion, bombing of North Korea-occupied Seoul and the recapture of
Kimpo Airfield. Starting in 1958, the squadron started an 8-year association with the USS
Midway which ended in 1966.
1960s In 1961, the first
A4D-2 (A-4B) Skyhawks to join CVW-2 came aboard during a deployment in the
Taiwan Strait during tensions between the two Chinas (
People's Republic of China and
'Republic of China' on Taiwan). In late 63', CVG-2 made their first deployment with the new
F-4H-1F (F-4B) Phantom II with
VF-21. It during the first deployment to the Vietnam War that VF-21 as part of the renamed CVW-2 scored the first air to air kills of Vietnam War. In a first for CVW-2, the air wing deployed with the F-4 as the only fighter aircraft on board as well as the
E-2A Hawkeye joining the air wing. It was in 1967 that CVW-2 began their long assignment to the
USS Ranger (CV/A-61) which would last till the
Rangers retirement in 1993 (excluding the mid-1980s). With the new
A-7A Corsair II and
A-6A Intruder, they became the first all-jet attack carrier air wing. CVW-2 spent thirty days in the Sea of Japan due to seizure of the .
1990s With the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq on 2 August 1990, USS
Ranger and CVW-2 deployed on 8 December to take in Operation Desert Shield, transiting the
Strait of Hormuz on 15 January 1991. For the next 75 hours, they flew more strike missions against Iraqi military targets. During war, the "Grumman Air Wing" was well suited as the primary night Air Wing, with 75 percent of their 10,500 hours being flown at night. With the war over in February 1991, the Ranger and CVW-2 returned to San Diego on 8 June 1991. During its 2006 deployment, Carrier Air Wing Two participated in three major exercises (i.e., Foal Eagle 06, Valiant Shield 06, RIMPAC 06), and its aircraft flew 7,871 sorties, with a total of 7,578 catapult launches from the flight deck of the
Abraham Lincoln. Between 24–31 March 2006, during
Foal Eagle 2006 exercises, strike squadrons
VFA-2,
VFA-34,
VFA-137, and
VFA-151 from Carrier Air Wing Two teamed with U.S. Air Force aircraft from the
18th Wing based at
Kadena Air Base to provide combat air patrols and coordinated bombing runs via the exercise's Combined Air Operations Center. During its 2008 deployment, Carrier Air Wing Two flew approximately 7,100 sorties, totaling more than 22,000 flight hours, which included 2,307 combat sorties that dropped 255,963 pounds (116,102.86 kg) of ordnance in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan (OEF-A) and
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) as a part of the
U.S. Fifth Fleet.
2010s When
Abraham Lincoln began its
Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2013, CVW-2 was reassigned to . It made only a short deployment aboard
Ronald Reagan during exercise
RIMPAC between June and August 2014, before the carrier was stationed in Japan. CVW-2 then accompanied for her voyage around South America from September to December 2015. In 2016, CVW-2 was reassigned to . The wing made its next deployment to the Western Pacific aboard
Carl Vinson from 23 January to 23 June 2017. On 5 January 2018, CVW-2 left San Diego aboard
Carl Vinson for another scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific.
Carl Vinson returned to San Diego on 12 April 2018. ==Current force==