With young Brandon Hale sitting on his shoulders, Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Roger Brady shares a final moment with Heather Hale. Brady is stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV 61), which is preparing to depart on a Western Pacific deployment

Aircraft carriers are warships that act as airbases for carrier-based aircraft. In the United States Navy, these consist of ships commissioned with hull classification symbols CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVB (large aircraft carrier), CVL (light aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion) and CVAN (attack aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion). The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy was USS Langley (CV-1) on 20 March 1922.