10/09/2026
9 October 2001, 25 years ago today: Aboard the nuclear powered U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) as the mid watch assumed the watch at 2346, they proudly noted the ship’s deck log: “Steaming in the Arabian Sea operating in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” Enterprise’s first such entry.
Also on the 9th, the "Tophatters" of Fighter Squadron One Four (VF-14) led an astonishing long-range tactical air strike, flying over 1,700 miles round trip. Two Grumman F-14B Tomcats were diverted from an assigned Defensive Counter Air (DCA) mission, utilizing “meticulous” in-flight planning and time sensitive targeting to destroy three MiG-21 Fishbeds and two transport planes on the ground, “while fending off multiple” AAA and ManPad launches. In addition, during a separate strike, VF-14 planes destroyed a pair of revetted transports at an airfield “near Kabul.”
The squadron maximized forward air control flexibility by configuring five F-14Bs as “quad bombers.” Each carried four GBU-12 LGBs as marks, the remaining Tomcats being configured as “dual bombers,” each with two GBU-16s, the media dubbing these aircraft “Bombcats.” VF-14 provided only 7% of U.S. naval strike assets, but was responsible for the assessed destruction of 12% of all targets hit in Afghanistan.
During the mid watch, Enterprise became enshrouded in fog, jeopardizing both crewmembers and aircraft. But Enduring Freedom was in full swing, and a Lockheed S-3B Viking from VS-24 recovered, immediately followed by the launch of an F-14B. Operations continued to increase in ferocity and tempo, and two days later, the first aircraft, an F-14B Tomcat, of the 17 aircraft of the first wave, launched for the night’s strike on Afghanistan.
U.S. Navy photo from Enterprise's 2001 cruise book
