The John C. Stennis (CVN-74) was commissioned on Dec. 9, 1995 and forms the centerpiece of the Stennis battle group. Her homeport is the Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif. The carrier is named for the late Senator from Mississippi, John C. Stennis. John Stennis served in the United States Congress for nearly 42 years, the second-longest tenure in the history of our nation.

The Stennis battle group is made up of seven surface ships, two submarines and an embarked air wing, and is used as a forward deployed force designed to enforce and protect the interests of US foreign policy around the world. The air wing assigned to the USS Stennis, is Carrier Air Wing NINE (CVW-9) which consists of eight squadrons. Attached aircraft are the F/A-18 Hornet, F-14 Tomcat, EA-6B Prowler, S-3 Viking, E-2C Hawkeye, and SH-60 Seahawk. Also assigned to the USS Stennis battle group is Destroyer Squadron Twenty One (DESRON 21). The squadron consists of: USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), USS Port Royal (CG 73), USS Russell (DDG 59), USS Elliot (DD 967), USS Rentz (FFG 46) and USS Bridge (AOE 10). The two submarines assigned to the group are the USS Asheville (SSN 758) and USS Jefferson City (SN 759).

The USS John C. Stennis is powered by two nuclear reactors and has a virtually unlimited range. Her top speed is 30 knots and her four steam catapults and four arresting engines allow continuous air operations. She has 4.5 acres of flight deck and weighs 97,000 tons. In addition to its air wing and destroyer squadron, the USS Stennis is armed with the Phalanx close-in weapons system, the SQL-32 Electronic Warfare System, and Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles.

In 2000, the carrier is underway in the Western Pacific. This deployment has taken the USS Stennis on port calls to Pusan, Korea; Hong Kong, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia; and Bahrain. The USS Stennis is currently in support of flight operations for Operation Southern Watch in the Arabian Sea.