The body of Osama bin Laden was buried at sea in 2011 from the deck of Carl Vinson, and that same year, on Veterans Day, she played host to the first NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier, between North Carolina and Michigan State.

The seal of USS Carl Vinson shows an eagle, wings spread and talons extended, carrying a banner in its beak.

[7] In October 2009, the US Navy announced that Carl Vinson would be the flagship of the newly established Carrier Strike Group One (CSG1), based in San Diego.

[7] Carl Vinson departed Norfolk on 1 March 1983 with Carrier Air Wing 15 embarked for her maiden deployment, an eight-month, around-the-world cruise that had them operate in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, South China Sea, and Pacific Ocean in a multitude of exercises and with port visits in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Casablanca, Morocco, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Perth, Australia, Subic Bay, Philippines, Hong Kong, Sasebo, Japan, Pusan, Republic of Korea, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, before arriving in her new homeport of Naval Air Station Alameda, California, arriving on 28 October 1983.

On 12 August 1986, the ship departed Alameda for a western Pacific deployment, again with CVW-15 aboard, and in the process became the first modern U.S. aircraft carrier to operate in the Bering Sea.

From 26 August until 3 September 1995, Carl Vinson participated in Exercise Ke Koa, as well as ceremonies to commemorate the end of World War II in the Pacific.

With the closing of Naval Air Station Alameda, the ship was transferred to Bremerton, Washington, arriving at her new homeport on 17 January 1997, where she played host to the last carrier launch and recovery operations for the A-6E Intruder.

In July 1999, Carl Vinson was drydocked in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for 13 months as the Navy spent more than $230 million to upgrade the ship.

[17] In February 2001, Carl Vinson hosted actors Gene Hackman, David Keith, Owen Wilson, and others for filming of the carrier scenes for the movie Behind Enemy Lines during intermediate pre-deployment underway workups.

Later, prior to commencement of Operation Enduring Freedom, David Keith returned to Carl Vinson on station in the North Arabian Sea to present the first international viewing of Behind Enemy Lines to the combined ship and air wing crew.

On 23 July 2001, Carl Vinson steamed from Bremerton, Washington to San Diego, California, where CVW-11 airgroup once again embarked, then was bound for the Persian Gulf to support Operation Southern Watch.

Completing her maintenance and overhaul period in record-setting time, Carl Vinson and crew got underway in September to conduct sea trials.

From January 2003 until September 2003, she made port calls in Hawaii, Guam, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

[citation needed] On 3 July 2003, five F/A-18 Hornets from the Carl Vinson were intercepted by F-16s from the Indonesian Air Force near Bawean Island over the Java Sea where they engaged in a dogfight and electronic warfare.

[23] Highlights of the cruise included port calls to Singapore, Guam, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Rhodes, Greece and Lisbon, Portugal.

[26][27] In November 2005, Carl Vinson became the third Nimitz-class carrier to undergo a mid-life Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), which was scheduled to last 36 months.

[30] In October 2009, Carl Vinson entered a four-month shipyard maintenance period at Northrop Grumman Newport News in preparation for her upcoming transit to the Pacific in the spring.

[33][34][35] CNN medical correspondent and neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, pediatric surgeon Henri Ford, and two Navy doctors removed a piece of concrete from the skull of a 12-year-old earthquake victim in an operation performed aboard Carl Vinson on 18 January.

[43] This is the first Western Pacific deployment for Carl Vinson in more than five years since the ship entered her Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) in late 2005.

[48] The ship docked in Hong Kong in the People's Republic of China on 22 May 2011 to take on supplies for her return to homeport San Diego, and to provide photo opportunities to the Chinese press.

[49][50] On 21 June 2011, it was announced that the Michigan State Spartans would play a regular season men's basketball game against the North Carolina Tar Heels on the flight deck of Carl Vinson on Veterans Day.

[51] On 11 November 2011, the inaugural Carrier Classic took place at the Naval Air Station North Island on San Diego Bay in Coronado, California.

[52] On 30 November 2011, Carl Vinson departed Naval Air Station North Island, California, on her scheduled Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment.

[citation needed] On 23 May 2012, Carl Vinson returned to Naval Air Station North Island, California, to end her November 2011 deployment.

On 30 January 2013, Carl Vinson commenced sea trials, marking her first time underway in seven months, since the ammo offload which ended on 29 June 2012.

[57] Over the course of the deployment, supporting strike operations in Iraq and Syria, CVW-17 successfully flew 12,300 sorties, including 2,382 combat missions and dropped more than half a million pounds (230 tons) of ordnance against ISIS.

[58] On 14 August 2015, Carl Vinson began a planned incremental availability (PIA) period at Naval Air Station North Island.

The ship received more than $300 million worth of improvements over six months during this modernisation,[59] including the first UAV command center installed aboard an aircraft carrier.

[citation needed]However, the Carl Vinson and her escorts were 3,500 miles (5,600 km) away, undertaking joint exercises with the Royal Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean south of Singapore.

[71] On 24 January 2022, while Carl Vinson was operating in the South China Sea, an F-35C with VFA-147 crashed while landing, resulting in injuries to at least seven crew members.