I'd like to know how many pilots there are on an aircraft carrier.
This needs to be a well sourced answer, I should be able to point to a
webpage or document that has the information.

Please do not just try and infer the number of pilots from the number
of planes etc as I've already done that and it is not clear enough. If
you have some first hand experience even better.

---

Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 19 Jun 2004 11:23 PDT

Hello Dynamo,
One difficulty here is that since different carrier types carry
different classes of planes, and the crews those differ from one to
three or more, no carrier may really have the same number of pilots.
Probably an average number can be gotten, but I doubt carriers, even
those of the same class, will have the same number of pilots overall.
I wonder, are you looking for the number of pilots for a particular
class, or would the average do?

dynamo --

Thanks for comment.  Nice to hear from you again.

An article entitled "The Pilot's Tale -- Aircraft Carrier Pilots," by
Matthew Klam, appeared in the February 1999 edition of Harper's
Magazine.  In that comprehensively researched article, the author
states that the Nimitz-class U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower carries 120
pilots.  Here is the specific reference in that article along with a
link to the entire article:

"The ship carries 120 pilots divided into nine squadrons, three of
which--the Sunliners, the Rams, and Doug's group, the Blue
Blasters--fly F/A-18 Hornets. The other squadrons fly F-14 fighters,
radar-jamming EA-6B Prowlers, anti-submarine S-3B Vikings, and radar
communications E-2C Hawkeyes as well as SH-60 helicopters. A C-2
Greyhound ferries mail and personnel back and forth."
Harper's: "The Pilot's Tale": February 1999 (page 8)
http://articles.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1111/is_1785_298/ai_54029659/pg_1

The number of pilots on a particular carrier at a particular time
might well vary slightly, probably depending on the type of aircraft
deployed and the nature of its mission.  The only other specific
reference I found to the number of pilots in a particular carrier's
air wing was this statement in an undated University of Oklahoma
alumni publication by an officer on the smallest aircraft carrier
currently deployed -- the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk:

"Today, I am charged with leading nine squadrons of 85 aircraft, 110
pilots and aircrew and 1,800 men and women sailors as the striking arm
of Commander Task Force Seven Zero in the U.S. Seventh Fleet forward
deployed aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk."
Price Business School: University of Oklahoma: Q&A with Doug McLain
http://price.ou.edu/magazine/fall00/page28.html

Based on this available information, I think you can reasonable
conclude that 120 is a well-documented number of the pilots aboard one
of the largest U.S. carriers, and the number of pilots assigned to a
carrier may range down to 110 or so, depending on the mission of the
carrier and the aircraft it carries.


Additional Information:

The site linked below has links to the Web pages of each of the 12
currently commissioned aircraft carriers and is source of much
information about each one:

How Stuff Works: Aircraft Carriers
http://science.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=aircraft-carrier.htm&url=http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/ship-cv.html

This page, from the same site, contained more links related to carriers:
How Stuff Works: Aircraft Carriers
http://science.howstuffworks.com/aircraft-carrier9.htm


Search Strategy:

I used various Google searches trying to track down this elusive information.  The

The most successful was the following:

aircraft carrier squadrons pilots assigned OR aboard
://www.google.com/search?q=aircraft+carrier+squadrons+pilots+assigned+OR+aboard&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off


Based on your comment, I am confident that this is the information you
are seeking.  If anything is unclear, please ask for clarification
before rating the answer.

markj-ga

Thanks.

I have found one very reliable source which provides the number of
pilots that were assigned to one Nimitz-class carrier in 1999 but no
other authoritative figures.  Like you, I have found much information
about the number of platoons assigned to carriers (which is
consistently eight or nine), but no other reliable information on the
number of pilots.

If no other researcher can give you information based on first-hand
experience or on multiple sources, I would be happy to post my
information as an answer.

markj-ga

That sounds perfect. I am not interested in simply taking the number
of crew assigned to a plane (theoretically) and multiplying it by the
number of planes on a carrier. Fire away and I'll accept it as the
answer.