From The NY Times: The Pentagon's Secret UFO Program

[Han]

At the beginning of the log it says:


"CVW-11 EVENT SUMMARY
14 NOVEMBER 04
EVENT SUMMARY"

I believe

CVW-11 = Carrier Air Wing 11

Carrier Air Wing Eleven - Wikipedia

 

[Realm]

Here's one discrepancy for which I haven't figured out an explanation yet:

The Fightersweep article describes how the "FASTEAGLE flight was wrapping up its scheduled training" when they were re-vectored towards the UFO and returned after that because they were low on fuel.
The TTSA report describes how they launched 1200, engaged in "Red Air vs. Blue Air" combat routines, and were interrupted and re-vectored towards the UFO at about 1230 during mission "reset". At that point they were already concerned about low fuel and after the encounter returned to Nimitz because of low fuel.

However, according to the log they were vectored "upon take off" at 1410 and made the contact at about 1430. According to the log, they actually performed exercises "after vector ... toward unidentified contact". So the order seems to be reversed and according to those other sources they were low on fuel.

What could be the explanation for that?

 

[Realm]

One possible way to explain that discrepancy could be if there were more FASTEAGLEs than those two. To test that, we should try to find out which of the following plane numbers:

3A1=
3C1=
3D2=
110=FAST EAGLE 110, call sign FASTEAGLE 01, Fravors plane
100=FAST EAGLE 100, call sign FASTEAGLE 02, Slaights plane
303=DEVILS?
305=DEVILS?
401=HOBO
https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8460/29784654905_bae126bb5b_b.jpg
https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8379/29156944324_b997b608e8_b.jpg

Belong to which of these groups:

VFA-41..................Black Aces......................FAST EAGLE
VFA-94..................Mighty Shrikes..................HOBO
VMFA-232................Red Devils.....................DEVIL

That could be possible for example with Google image search, as those planes seem to have their numbers on their noses. So if you manage to find images or other info that would tie those numbers to those squadrons (in year 2004 or close to that), let me now.

I think we can deduce the likely groupings for certain types and ranges of aircraft numbers by looking at the log closer and seeing which groups are mentioned together with which kinds of numbers. From that I would guess that:

307,310,311=DEVILS
402,403=HOBOS

404,405 are also HOBOs:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/F-18C_of_VFA-94_lands_on_USS_Carl_Vinson_(CVN-70)_in_May_2014.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/164008_405_an_F_A-18C_of_VFA-94_parked_at_Lemoore_NAS,_California_(3356134967).jpg

So most likely 303,305 above are also DEVILS.

 

[mike]

Google image search, as those planes seem to have their numbers on their noses.

I think its the number under the tail wings you want.
The Black aces all seem to have 100 on the nose

US Navy and US Marine Corps Military Aircraft Serial Numbers and Bureau Numbers--1911 to Present

So i think you are looking for the S/n or Bu number to identify individual planes.


A Bureau Number is assigned to an aircraft when it is initially ordered, not when it is actually delivered to the Navy. The total number of serial numbers assigned (by now over 165000) does not reflect the actual number of aircraft delivered, because of large-scale contract cancellations at the end of World War II and other program changes in recent years.

Not every assigned bureau number necessarily indicates an actual aircraft in Navy service, because program cancellations often took place before actual delivery. In the pre-war years, assigned bureau numbers that were cancelled before delivery were not reassigned, although this was quite often done with late World War II numbers. There are occasional situations in which a bureau number batch was successively allocated to two or even three separate aircraft orders, only to have them all cancelled before delivery.

The US Air Force has an entirely different serial numbering scheme, based on aircraft procurements within each fiscal year. Occasionally, aircraft are transferred from the USAF to the Navy. If the transfer is anticipated to be permanent, it is usually the case that the transferred aircraft are given brand new Navy bureau numbers. However, if the transfer is anticipated to be only temporary, the original USAF serial numbers are often retained in Navy service, but sometimes it happens that aircraft loaned to the Navy are assigned brand-new bureau numbers. Unfortunately, the system is not always consistent.

 

[Realm]

I think its the number under the tail wings you want.
The Black aces all seem to have 100 on the nose

No they don't. Here's Black Aces 213:
http://www.jf18-resource.com/pTSH/FA18E_Skins/HR/Paul-Rossman_FA18E_VFA-41_v2_HR_s.jpg

And 103:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/2366367930_f252476a60.jpg

 

[mike]

Thats interesting.

But you are right 100 is the CAG's plane.

 

[Realm]

Found this:
Modex - Wikipedia

So those aircraft numbers are called modexes, and there is a logic in how they are used.

Based on that, it seems all planes in a squadron should share the same first number. So that would mean all FAST EAGLES begin with a 1. Which also means there wasn't other FAST EAGLES in the first part of the exercise, but there were two others (105/106) doing the bombing part.

It also means CAMELOTs have to begin with 2, and those codes that have a letter in the middle are most likely something else than aircraft numbers.

So the code ranges are:

100- VFA-41 Black Aces FAST EAGLE
200- VFA-14 Tophatters CAMELOT
300- VMFA-232 Red Devils DEVIL
400- VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes HOBO
500- RAVEN
610- INDIAN (Helicopter)

And the log seems to talk about many of those in plural even if there was only one plane from that squadron.

 

[Realm]

After reading those documents more carefully, I think I now know what happened.

On the morning of 14 November 2004, Dave and his WSO launched into the clear blue Southern California sky about a hundred miles southwest of San Diego. Their Call Sign was FASTEAGLE 01. His wingman and WSO launched just after them in FASTEAGLE 02. They climbed overhead the ship and rendezvoused in normal fashion before setting off to their assigned work area in the open ocean south of USS Nimitz. Normal day, normal ops for the pre-deployment work up cycle they were in the middle of.
...
Once the Air Wing’s planes arrived aboard Nimitz, the Fire Control team on Princeton saw an opportunity to use those assets and eyeballs to help solve the AAV mystery.
...
At the same time FASTEAGLE flight was wrapping up its scheduled training, the CO of Marine Hornet squadron VMFA-232, Lieutenant Colonel “Cheeks” Kurth, was completing a post-maintenance check flight not too far away. He was the first fast-mover contacted by Princeton.
...
Princeton now wanted the E-2 to guide the Super Hornets to an intercept with the AAV contact, currently hovering over their favorite spot, but now about 20,000 feet over the ocean.
...
The radar returns from the contact weren’t enough to generate a target track however, so Princeton cut the E-2 from control and contacted FASTEAGLE directly. Though he was unable to lock up the AAVs, the E-2 controller remained on frequency and listened to the entire ensuing evolution.
...
Dave’s baffled WSO reported that all they had were two captive-carry training missiles. They were given bearing and range vectors to a set of coordinates and told to investigate an unknown aerial contact over that spot.

With no further information on the contact, they descended to the low 20s and scanned with radar, picking nothing up. Neither plane in this flight was carrying a FLIR pod, which limited the type of sensors they could search with; but, both planes were brand new–in Dave’s words, “They still had that new car smell.” The APG-73 radars were both new and had performed perfectly during the previous hour’s training.

https://fightersweep.com/1460/x-files-edition/

So those two FASTEAGLEs initially launched in the morning, and practised for at least more than an hour, and where wrapping up the training and had actually arrived back to Nimitz when the re-vectoring happened. It seems it was a good opportunity to use them, because they just arrived and were ready to take off again (and were probably scheduled to still perform some exercises anyway).

(Field Comment - Source originally indicated a time period from approximately 1000 hours to 1400 hours, but later clarified that the precise time to be approximately 1200 as the mission was the first sortie from the aircraft carrier that day)
...
The purpose of the training was to practice carrier operations, launch and recovery, flight safety drills, and battle scenarios.
...
Source, OK-1, OK-2, and OK-3 were identified as the first cycle of F-18s that day and as such, were designated first to be launched.
...
At approximately 1200 hours EST, Source and OK-1 were launched
...
Upon launching, Source and OK-1 immediately rendezvoused with OK-2 and OK-3 and proceeded together to their designated training area.
...
Upon reaching their designated training area, Source, OK-1, OK-2, and OK-3 engaged in "Red Air vs Blue Air" combat routines
...
At approximately 1230 hours, during a mission "reset", an unidentified female voice from U.S.S. Princeton Missile Cruiser, CVL-23 interrupted their combat routines to announce an immediate re-vectoring.
...
Upon hearing the female controller's command, OK-2 realized the re-vectoring was in the opposite direction of the U.S.S. Nimitz.
...
due to concerns of limited fuel, OK-2 requested another group of F-18s respond to the call. At this time, the female controller's voice became more directive in tone and ordered the two F-18s to the new operating area.

2004 USS NIMITZ PILOT WRITTEN REPORT

Similar story, the original time period seems to have been local times, so they probably started the exercises at around 1000 and continued until 1400 (actually closer to 1500 according to the log). They were training carrier operations, so maybe the mission "reset" included them to make a pit stop to the carrier in the middle of exercises anyway. Again it is mentioned they had already done some exercises and it makes sense that they were on low fuel if they had just returned back after spending it and would have liked to someone else to take the call, but it would have probably taken longer for others to get ready and the controller was in a hurry.

1200 EST would be 0900 PST, so either they originally began the exercises an hour earlier than was indicated earlier or that timezone conversion is off by an hour. That 1230 doesn't make much sense in any timezone if the log is accurate and the re-vectoring happened 1410. My guess is that the attention to detail of TTSA is just not good enough and those times are off.

FAST EAGLES 110/100 UPON TAKE OFF WERE VECTORED BY PRINCETON AND BANGER (1410L) TO
INTERCEPT UNID CONTACT
...
WHILE SEARCHING FOR UNID AIR CONTACT, FAST EAGLES SPOTTED LARGE UNID OBJECT IN WATER AT 1430L.

Navy event document 2004 Nov 14.pdf

The log we have is for that specific day, but begins with EVENT 3, so we are missing a couple of events. Those would have probably contained at least red vs. blue routines similar to EVENT 4 for FASTEAGLEs 100 and 110. Since all documents indicate those planes were the first to take off that day, I don't think they sleep so long in a carrier that the first ones would take only after 1400 in the afternoon. So it makes sense that the take off in question wasn't the first one for them.

 

[Realm]

Some of the operating areas mentioned in the log can be found from this document and are within the right area:
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/permits/socal_eis_vol1.pdf

Missile Ranges 1 East and 1 West (MISR-1E/MISR-1W): MISR-1E and MISR-1W are located about 100 nm (185 km) south and southwest of NBC, and extend from the ocean bottom up to 80,000 ft (24,384 m) MSL. Exercises conducted include rocket and missile firing, ASW, carrier and submarine operations, Fleet training, ISE, and surface and air gunnery. Ordnance use is permitted.

Tactical Maneuvering Areas (TMA) (Papa 1-8): W-291 airspace includes eight TMAs (designated Papa 1-8) extending from 5,000 to 40,000 ft (1,524 to 12,192 m) MSL. Exercises conducted include Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM), air intercept control aerobatics, and Air-to-Air (A-A) gunnery. Ordnance use is permitted.

"BMB AT 2507" and "OPAREA 2507" probably refer to this R-2507 area located inland, used for air-to-ground bombing:
Chocolate Mountain Impact Area (R-2507)

That seems to be located at about coordinates 33°16'47.7, -115°10'58.2, so about 25 miles east from Salton Sea. I couldn't find "Mullet" from documents that describe operating areas, but there's a Mullet island in Salton Sea, which would be within the route to that bombing area, so most probably that is it:
Salton Buttes - Wikipedia

So the events that follow the ufo encounter in the log seem to say that the planes performed air defense exercises at Salton Sea, after which a different set of planes dropped bombs to the nearby area inland:

FAST EAGLES, DEVILS AND HOBOS PERFORMED ADEX IN MULLET AFTER VECTOR FROM PRINCETON
TOWARD UNID CONTACT. EACH PERFORMED 1X RUN. FAST EAGLE VID 2X GROUPS:
1X SIM F8, WINGS CLEAN
1X SIM F8, WINGS CLEAN. RTB
BMB
3A2,3B1
105/106, 204/200

FAST EAGLES AND CAMELOTS PERFORMED BMB AT 2507. EACH DROPPED 4X MK-82. FAST EAGLES
PERFORMED 3X RUNS; CAMELOTS 2X RUNS

That doesn't make much sense. They were just supposedly far away at the sea and already low on fuel, so why would they then fly inland near an area where other planes are dropping bombs? Those modexes however match the lists of who did what.

At least we know Dave didn't have bombs to drop, so those doing that had to be others:

Dave’s baffled WSO reported that all they had were two captive-carry training missiles.

 

[Han]

Here at the Black Aces website you can see:

100 two seater F-18 with tail letters NG and 100 NH (not sure if it is same Aircraft with different crew).

102 Two seater* F-18 with NG tail letters.
105 *
106 *
111 *

Top hatter 213: Single seater F-18 marked VFA-14 Tail letters NG

Red Devils
304 Single seater F-18
305 *
306 *

https://flic.kr/p/black_aces%2Falbums%2F72157633471425817%2Fwith%2F9472088753

I think there are more but that is what I found for now.

Also in many photo's I can read the crew names written on the side, but I won't include them here.

 

[Realm]

Also in many photo's I can read the crew names written on the side, but I won't include them here.

I noticed that too. Which means, if we could identify which plane took the FLIR video, and find one good enough picture of that plane from around that time, we might actually be able to identify who took it...

I think it was one of these:

VFA-41 Black Aces FAST EAGLE 111
VFA-14 Tophatters CAMELOT 212
VFA-14 Tophatters CAMELOT 201
VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes HOBO 413

That is, one of the planes of the next event. The number of those planes matches what has been stated elsewhere about the next crew. I don't think it was one of those doing the bombing exercise, since that seems to have been inland and might have happened simultaneously anyway, since the timestamps for seeing those fishing vessels after that are also overlapping.

We also know FAST EAGLEs 100 and 110 were brand new, as was the plane that took the FLIR. So unless those other squadrons also happened to have brand new planes, that FAST EAGLE 111 would be my first guess. Find a picture of that with the names on it, and we might actually know who took it...

 

[Han]

This is interesting:

"Dave had gone though the similar surreal experience of being asked by Princeton if the FASTEAGLE jets were carrying any ordnance."

The USS Princeton is literally armed to the teeth:

"Armament: two Mk 41 VLS for Standard missiles, Tomahawk, ASROC; Mk 46 torpedoes, Harpoon missile launchers, two Mk 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight guns, two Phalanx CIWS, two Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm machine gun systems"*

It can hit Air, land and Sea targets from a very long way away as it has Cruise Missiles as well as AGM-84s and SAMS (Anti Aircraft).

I have a feeling that the senior officers/captains of the various ships in the group CVW-11 would all be party to the loadouts of the planes taking part in the exercises, but that is just speculation on my part.


*USS Princeton (CG 59)

 

[Han]

Find a picture of that with the names on it, and we might actually know who took it...

This is a recent photo added in 2016 you can see the names but I suspect that it is not the same guys as in 2004:

Airfighters.com

However I now know the reg number of Fast Eagle 111: it is
166852

here are the photo details:

Air Force: USA - Navy
Aircraft: Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet Photos
Registration: 166852 / NG-111 (cn F200)

 

[Realm]

This is a recent photo added in 2016 you can see the names but I suspect that it is not the same guys as in 2004

That site is a good find. I searched there for the oldest photos I could find of those 4 planes. I didn't find VFA-94 413 at all, but the rest of those alongside the dates of those photos were:

Airfighters.com
166435 / NH-201 (cn ..../E080)
June 2005

Airfighters.com
166425 / NH-212 (cn ****/E070)
June 9, 2006

Airfighters.com
166465 / NH-111 (cn ..../F100)
February 2006

Note that the serial for 111 is different and it has changed from NG-111 to NH-111, which probably means it has been assigned to another carrier between those years or something and the numbers may have changed as well. So the correct serial is probably 166465.

 

[Han]

Just found this, and need to do more reading to see how it ties in:

Exercise Summer Pulse - Wikipedia

Summer Pulse 2004 (SP04) was the codename for a worldwide surge deployment that served as the first full-scale test of the United States Navy's then-new Fleet Response Plan (FRP). During Summer Pulse 2004, a total of seven carrier strike groups were underway at the same time in five different theaters of operations.[4] This number of underway carrier strike groups had not been matched since the six carrier battle groups deployed during Operation Desert Storm.[5] In addition to the carriers, the Navy also deployed 17 submarines and one submarine tender.[6][7]


"During the summer of 2004, VFA-41 maintained a healthy operational tempo, taking part in multiple detachments and exercises. Four Black Ace Super Hornets were embarked aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) for her two month maiden voyage around South America to her homeport in San Diego. During the voyage, VFA-41 took part in SUMMER PULSE 2004 as well as the UNITAS exercise, which involved several South American countries. Meanwhile, another element of the squadron departed for Anchorage, Alaska to take part in COPE THUNDER, a two week multinational training exercise.

The Black Aces returned from a remarkably successful deployment in support of the Global War on Terror. From May to November 2005,"*


source: The Official Homepage of the World Famous BLACK ACES

The log is dated as 14 NOVEMBER 04 so I don't think it was part of 'summer pulse' but it may have been part of another training exercise.

It seems that the Black Aces are sort of loaned to the CVs and count their home base as:

Naval Air Station Lemoore California

Naval Air Station Lemoore - Wikipedia

 

[William Strathmann]

Perhaps you guys have mentioned it, but just in case.

The six digit number, for example, 166465, is related to the contract number for that particular plane when it was built, so it always stays on the same plane and it never changes. Probably the last four digits of this number appear in smaller numbers on other exterior parts of the A/C (they did forty years ago when I was in).

The three digit numbers for the squadron numbers of the A/C "probably" won't change very often. From what I've read there are, these days, 12 A/C per squadron, so these A/C numbers would be 100 to 111 for example, or something like that. Probably no changes to these numbers very much, but stuff happens to planes, so these numbers might be changed on a plane or two.

As far as names on planes, I don't think you can be sure who's flying it even if names are put on a plane. Assignments, I would think, are made based on what birds are in an "up" condition, or are flyable. Probably carrier wings keep their birds in top shape, but stuff happens, so planes can go down for a time, meaning that air crews scheduled for flights would be assigned to available flyable aircraft, not necessarily a "personalized" aircraft. But, who knows, maybe that's changed somewhat.

As I think you guys understand, the tail call signs can change as often as a squadron gets reassigned to different airwings. I have been looking a little at the NH - NG difference but don't have anything.

I'm not sure I'm following the full discussion, but I think someone thought that a plane that was launched for a flight, and then returns to the carrier, could be immediately re-launched. I won't say that that's impossible, but I would think that such a "turn-around" of recovery, refuel and relaunch would be part of a scheduled exercise and probably noted somewhere. Otherwise, to me, that scenario does not seem too likely.

IMHO, it would be easiest to find a USN or USMC aviator and have them look at the document you guys are trying to decipher, if they would do it, which they probably woundn't. :-(

 

[Han]

Thank you for the info re Numbering.

And for pointing out that you might not always fly your 'own' plane.

Goes to show that experience is everything: because I had just assumed that you would.

also:

IMHO, it would be easiest to find a USN or USMC aviator and have them look at the document you guys are trying to decipher, if they would do it, which they probably woundn't. :-(

That is an excellent point and I had been wondering about the security implications, personally I wouldn't want to provide or ask for any info that could be dangerous to future operations.

 

[Realm]

The six digit number, for example, 166465, is related to the contract number for that particular plane when it was built, so it always stays on the same plane and it never changes. Probably the last four digits of this number appear in smaller numbers on other exterior parts of the A/C (they did forty years ago when I was in).

The three digit numbers for the squadron numbers of the A/C "probably" won't change very often. From what I've read there are, these days, 12 A/C per squadron, so these A/C numbers would be 100 to 111 for example, or something like that. Probably no changes to these numbers very much, but stuff happens to planes, so these numbers might be changed on a plane or two.

Excellent, now we have somebody who actually knows something about what we are trying to decipher .

That is pretty much how I have imagined those numbers work. I also found this book that lists planes that participated to Iraq war:
US Navy Hornet Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Part One)

None of the serials match to what was listed above... But at least in that book those planes are clearly assigned to Nimitz and at least some of that data is from 2003, so these might have a better change to be correct:

VFA-41 BLACK ACES F/A-18F 100 = 165876
VFA-41 BLACK ACES F/A-18F 110 = 165884
VFA-41 BLACK ACES F/A-18F 111 = 165885

VFA-14 TOPHATTERS F/A-18F 201 = 165862
VFA-14 TOPHATTERS F/A-18F 212 = 165871

VFA-94 MIGHTY SHRIKES F/A-18C 413 = 164021

I also found this:

The Mighty Shrikes began their transition from the F/A-18C Hornet to the F/A-18F Super Hornet in September 2015, completing the transition in March 2016.

VFA-94 - Wikipedia

So, that is a single-seater right? Since the story talks about the WSO who created the video, we can eliminate that plane from the possibilities, right?

The serials for the rest are pretty much consecutive, so probably they all were pretty new.

As far as names on planes, I don't think you can be sure who's flying it even if names are put on a plane. Assignments, I would think, are made based on what birds are in an "up" condition, or are flyable. Probably carrier wings keep their birds in top shape, but stuff happens, so planes can go down for a time, meaning that air crews scheduled for flights would be assigned to available flyable aircraft, not necessarily a "personalized" aircraft. But, who knows, maybe that's changed somewhat.

I expected it to be something like that, and that is why I said "we might know" if we would see the names. It was mentioned earlier in the thread that the commanding officer is usually flying with the number ending 00, but already in this case we know that wasn't the case. Fravor was the commanding officer, but he used 110, and Slaight was more of a trainee and seemed to have Fravor's plane 100. But something like what you just said would explain that.

As I think you guys understand, the tail call signs can change as often as a squadron gets reassigned to different airwings. I have been looking a little at the NH - NG difference but don't have anything.

This Wikipedia page I found earlier explains those:

The first number of a modex indicates the type of mission that the squadron is assigned to within the aircraft carrier's airwing. In addition, each operational airwing (non-training) is assigned a two letter TAIL code. Carrier-based USN/USMC aircraft of airwings assigned to the Atlantic Fleet have tail codes that begin with the letter "A" (i.e. AA, AB, AC, etc.). Those assigned to Pacific Fleet airwings begin with the letter "N" (i.e., NE, NG, NH, etc.). USN training squadrons have single letter tail codes assigned (A through G).

Modex - Wikipedia

Identification of those planes is probably a bit of a sidetrack, but with limited information, who knows if that still uncovers something of value. At least it has given further confirmation that the log is legit as the details seem to have real-life counterparts.

I'm not sure I'm following the full discussion, but I think someone thought that a plane that was launched for a flight, and then returns to the carrier, could be immediately re-launched. I won't say that that's impossible, but I would think that such a "turn-around" of recovery, refuel and relaunch would be part of a scheduled exercise and probably noted somewhere. Otherwise, to me, that scenario does not seem too likely.

That "turn-around" was my theory based on those documents. I think they didn't actually do that refueling, because the planes were already low on fuel when they left towards the UFO. So my interpretation is that the planes had finished their exercise, at least one leg of it, and returned back to the carrier for normal refueling etc. But then the action began on the radar and they might have been still on the planes, or maybe still in the air, they were the quickest option to send there. That article mentions the first plane they sent there was in "post-maintenance check flight not too far away", so evidently they tried their best to get there as fast as possible.

I actually assumed earlier they hadn't actually landed but re-vectored while still in air. But the log states: "FAST EAGLES 110/100 UPON TAKE OFF WERE VECTORED BY PRINCETON". So that indicates they actually took off from the carrier, right?

Also what do you think mission "reset" means?

IMHO, it would be easiest to find a USN or USMC aviator and have them look at the document you guys are trying to decipher, if they would do it, which they probably woundn't. :-(

You are the next best thing now. Congratulations!

 

[Realm]

I'm not sure I'm following the full discussion, but I think someone thought that a plane that was launched for a flight, and then returns to the carrier, could be immediately re-launched. I won't say that that's impossible, but I would think that such a "turn-around" of recovery, refuel and relaunch would be part of a scheduled exercise and probably noted somewhere

Note that the log we have begins with EVENT 3 and the first line of that is "FAST EAGLES 110/100 UPON TAKE OFF WERE VECTORED BY PRINCETON". We know those two planes had already done exercises before that, but we don't have a log about those or if they contained information about planned refueling etc.

According to the other documents, they were the first to launch that day, and that may have happened at 10:00 or so according to the times given in those documents and the re-vectoring (and new take off) happened at 14:10.

 

[William Strathmann]

Guys and gals, I really don't know all that much related to the document in question since my experience was in a previous century. I just thought a few comments might help keep you guys from too many wild goose chases on this stuff.

There may be a book like the one linked that would supply the names for the abbreviations. Maybe...

Dictionary of Naval Terms, Sixth Edition

edit: How about this maybe...

Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations