had hijacked the Italian ocean liner . The fighters forced the Boeing 737 to land at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy. In April 1986, aircraft of CVW-17 participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon, the bombing of Libya. CVW-17 joined forces with aircraft from the United States Air Force (USAF); Carrier Air Wing Thirteen from ; and Carrier Air Wing One from . In 1991, CVW-17 was taking part in Operation Desert Storm, flying missions for 43 consecutive days. CVW-17's aircraft dropped 1,800 tons of ordnance, but lost an F/A-18C Hornet from VFA-81, a F-14A Tomcat from VF-103, and an A-6E Intruder from VA-35. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, CVW-17 comprised the following squadrons: VAQ-132 Scorpions, VF-74 Be-Devilers, VF-103 Sluggers, HS-3 Tridents, VFA-81 Sunliners, VFA-83 Rampagers, VS-30 Diamondcutters, VAW-125 Tigertails, and VA-35 Black Panthers. In 1988, CVW-17 operated for a few weeks from , and from in 1993. In 1992, the Wing's aircraft took part in Operation Deny Flight and Operation Provide Promise in Yugoslavia, and in Operation Southern Watch over Iraq. In June 1994 CVW-17 was transferred to , homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. The following September, CVW-17 moved its headquarters to NAS Oceana, Virginia. Due to the BRAC closure of NAS Cecil Field. In 1998 CVW-17 was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea aboard . Starting in 2000, the Wing then made four deployments (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2006) aboard . Only in 2004, CVW-17 joined for her final deployment before her decommissioning. 2000 – present In 2004, aircraft from the air wing played key roles in supporting ground forces during the Iraq War, especially the operations in Fallujah, that began 7 November. CVW-17 joined USAF and United States Marine Corps (USMC) aircraft in striking key positions. During the height of operations, CVW-17 aircraft flew an average of 38 missions a day in support of ground troops. Together, the squadrons of CVW-17 flew 8,296 sorties for a total flight time of 21,824 hours. Of that total, 4,396 sorties and 11,607 flight hours were in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In all, CVW-17 dropped of ordnance. During these operations, VFA-34 dropped the U.S. Navy's first two Joint Direct Attack Munitions over Iraq. In 2008, CVW-17 accompanied George Washington from Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego, California, although all fighter squadrons came from CVW-7, these keeping their "AG" tail code. CVW-17 was then scheduled to be assigned to , as part