A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft prepares to launch.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft from Strike Fighter Squadron 27 prepares to launch from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) during the disembarking of Carrier Air Wing 5 in the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 2, 2009. The George Washington, the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, is concluding her inaugural summer deployment in the western Pacific.