[kabar]

Understood. The issue was, could they? The answer appears to be yes. The context of the discussion was turning the JFK over to NATO, which doesn't have carriers using catapults and arresting gear. Spain, Ialy, and the UK do have carriers with VTOL aircraft.

Perhaps Hunter was mistaken by using host in the past tense instead of could host. I have not researched the history of the JFK to see if VTOL aircraft ever landed or took off from the ship.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The issue was, could they?

No, the issue was your earlier claim:

"We are flying Harriers off the JFK now. Probably part of a Marine Aircraft Wing."

Which is incorrect. Whether or not Harriers could be successfully operated from a CV or CVN was answered in '76-'77 when VMA-231 deployed aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of CVW-19 for a Med cruise.