USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)

PHILIPPINE SEA (May 22, 2021) — The US Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), steams off the coast of Iwo To.

Formerly referred to as Iwo Jima, Japan returned to calling it by its pre-war name in 2007. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, as well as the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason Tarleton)

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) is a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered supercarrier in the service of the United States Navy. As the ninth ship of her class, she is named in honor of Ronald W. Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was built at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, and was commissioned on July 12, 2003.

Ronald Reagan made five deployments to the Pacific and Middle East between 2006 and 2011 while based at Naval Air Station North Island. In October 2015, Ronald Reagan replaced USS George Washington as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group Five, the only forward-based carrier strike group home-ported at Yokosuka, Japan, as part of the United States Seventh Fleet.