Three F-18 Super Hornets, piloted by Capt. Patrick Corrigan, Capt. Michael Sweeney and Rear Adm. Pat Hannifin, fly over the USS Ronald Reagan during Carrier Air Wing 5's change-of-command ceremony, July 14, 2023. (Timothy Dimal/U.S. Navy)
Command of the USS Ronald Reagan’s carrier air wing recently changed hands at high speed in the skies over the Indian Ocean.
Capt. Patrick Corrigan relieved Capt. Michael Sweeney as commander of Carrier Air Wing 5 on Friday during a hand-off overseen by Rear Adm. Pat Hannifin, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5.
The ceremony took place while all three were airborne in separate F-18 Super Hornet fighters, according to a news release posted Friday on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
The three officers used their jets’ radios to talk during the ceremony, which typically includes speeches and the official reading of orders, according to the release.
While the hourlong ceremony was not broadcast over the carrier’s intercom, crewmembers could listen in to the radio chatter if they wanted, Task Force 70 spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Seth Koenig told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday.
“It has been an honor to serve with the men and women of Carrier Air Wing 5, the Navy’s only forward deployed carrier air wing,” Sweeney said in the release. “There is no harder job in carrier aviation than serving in the forward deployed forces, but there is also no job more rewarding than serving in the forward deployed forces.”
Capt. Patrick Corrigan, of Miller Place, N.Y., took command of Carrier Air Wing 5, July 14, 2023. (U.S. Navy)
The air wing consists of nine flying squadrons that include F-18s, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft, C-2A Greyhound turboprops and MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters, according to the air wing’s website.
Currently embarked aboard the USS Ronald Reagan for its annual deployment, the air wing is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, and maintains 81 aircraft, according to the release.
Sweeney, of Arlington, Va., first joined the air wing as its deputy commander in November 2020 and took command in February 2022. His next assignment will be at U.S. Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Corrigan, of Miller Place, N.Y., is a naval aviator with a bachelor's degree in marine transportation from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.
A former TOPGUN instructor, Corrigan’s past assignments include a stint as commander of Strike Fighter Squadron 125, tours with four other strike fighter squadrons and deployments aboard the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise, USS Abraham Lincoln, USS George Washington and USS Nimitz, according to his Navy biography.
Corrigan, prior to the ceremony, thanked Sweeney and his wife, Tisha Sweeney, for their support over the past several years and lauded the air wing as “an amazing and resilient family,” according to the news release.
“I couldn't be more proud and excited to take command of the most capable air wing in the U.S. Navy as we transition to the air wing of the future,” he said. “Carrier Air Wing 5 will continue to be America’s 911 air wing.”
