Part of the wing was then deployed aboard USS Yorktown and helped cripple the Japanese aircraft carrier Sōryū during the Battle of Midway.

The Wing flew in support of the Pusan Perimeter, the invasion on Wonsan and, and strikes on Hungnam Salient and Yalu River Bridges.

The wing accumulated over 11,000 operational hours flying against the North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces.

The wing stayed aboard Saratoga until she entered her Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) in 1981.

Dropping over 14,000 tons of ordnance, CVW-3 spent 175 days on the line engaged in combat operations against North Vietnam.

[4] CVW-3 was assigned to USS John F. Kennedy, in 1981 and participated in air strikes against Lebanon in support of US Marines stationed there.

In January 1989 two CVW-3 F-14 Tomcats shot down two hostile Libyan MIG-23 fighters over international waters in the Central Mediterranean.

During this time, the wing aircraft participated in Operation Desert Fox, a four-day strike campaign against Iraq in December 1998.

[4] On 5 December 2002, CVW-3 departed for its 26th deployment to the Mediterranean, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and on 20 March 2003, CVW-3 began taking part in the Iraq War, flying defensive counter air missions in Western Iraq, launching aircraft off the coast of Egypt in the South Eastern Mediterranean.

[5][6] On 22 December 2013, Joyner was superseded by her air wing's deputy commander (DCAG), Capt.

The air wing successfully supported US and coalition troops in Afghanistan, operated with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, and conducted multiple liberty-as-a-mission port calls to Bahrain, Dubai, France and Spain.