[Boom-Boom]

Since the advent of the super-CAG, you now have two O-6 line officers on the carrier. The XO of the ship is generally not an O-6 upon arrival, but may make O-6 during his XO tour. The DCAG, similarly, is often an O-5 as well on arrival, but will make O-6 before fleeting up to the CAG job.

There are O-6 staff officers on board occasionally, but even the senior doc, dentist and chaplain are generally O-5's. The embarked admiral staff (Cargru or Crudesgru) will have at least one O-6 as Chief of Staff.

In the old days, the Airwing Commander was an O-5 that reported to the carrier CO as a department head. The super CAG concept puts the CAG and CO on an equal level with a fair amount of load sharing of functional reponsibilities.

IMO, the super CAG concept works better than the previous setup, but it does preclude a super CAG from ever commanding a carrier. It didn't happen often in the past, but it did happen occasionally. Now aviators have to choose which track they want to follow post squadron command.

[Jeff Gordon]

Thank you for that information. Promotion during tour probably explains the high number of 06s on the Reagan.

Just how equal are the CO and CAG? In the event of a dispute such as 'attack target X or not' where higher command authority was not available, who is authorized to prevai: the CO or the CAG?