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Captain Sean Bailey, Commanding Officer of the USS George H.W. Bush was integral in the planning of the Chesapeake Deployment. He and his team spent over a year planning for this historic exercise and the final phase aboard the Bush was "the culmination of the work that the French and CAG 8 have been doing at Oceana over the last month and a half," he said. Captain Bailey is certainly no stranger to what it takes to make it in naval aviation - he has over 3,300 hours in the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet and over 880 arrested carrier landings.
As he explains, the exercises were executed in two phases: "The first phase is carrier qualifications...so the pilots regain their proficiency with takeoffs and landings on the carrier." Once the first phase is completed, the operation moves to phase two, which involves "full mission sets and operations where we'll launch a series of aircraft," says Captain Bailey. When asked how the French and US forces worked together during the exercises, Captain Bailey noted that it was a "pleasant surprise how easily we came together." He also observed that some of the familiarity between the French and US Navy was most likely thanks to the fact that, like the US Navy, the French operate a carrier with a catapult and arresting gear. Many other nations' carriers rely on ski-ramps or VTOL aircraft. So, according to Captain Bailey, aside from minor differences, "it's just like having another US squadron aboard." Captain Jim McCall, Commander of Carrier Air Wing 8 agreed with Captain Bailey's assessment, noting that there were "many more similarities than differences" between the two forces.