(Stars and Stripes)

Off the Japanese coast, April 15, 2002: A flight deck “shooter” signals as an F-18 Hornet from VFA-195 prepares to launch from the USS Kitty Hawk’s flight deck. The carrier left its home port of Yokosuka, Japan, for its spring deployment. Within hours after the ship left port, F-14 Tomcats and F-18 Hornets launched from the two forward catapults only to circle and return for an arrested landing at the rear of the ship. Pilots do this routine countless times, day and night, as part of their carrier qualifications to gain and/or maintain carrier landing currency.