Editing USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) (section)

=== 1980s ===

On 4 August 1980, ''John F. Kennedy'' left Norfolk, Virginia and voyaged to the Mediterranean Sea.
<ref>[https://kribbsmemories.blogspot.com/2019/06/uss-john-f-kennedy-cv-67.html John F. Kennedy S-3 Division during departure from Norfolk, Virginia to the Mediterranean Sea, 4 August 1980.]</ref>

On 4 January 1982, ''John F. Kennedy'', with Carrier Air Wing Three (AC), sailed as the flagship for [[Carrier Group Four]] (CCG-4) from Norfolk, Va. on her ninth deployment, and her first visit to the Indian Ocean after port visits to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Malaga, Spain, and transiting the [[Suez Canal]]. In her time in the Indian Ocean ''John F. Kennedy'' conducted her only port visit to Perth/Fremantle, Western Australia, anchoring in Gage Roads on 19 March 1982 for a R&R visit, departing on 25 March back to the Indian Ocean. During this time ''John F. Kennedy'' played host to the first visit of the Somali head of state, President [[Mohammed Siad Barre]]. Her cruise ended with port visits to Mombasa, Kenya and Toulon, France, and another visit to Malaga, Spain before returning home on 14 July 1982.

In October 1983 ''John F. Kennedy,'' with Commander, [[Carrier Group 6]] (CCG-6) embarked, was diverted to [[Beirut]], Lebanon from her planned Indian Ocean deployment, after the [[Beirut barracks bombing]] killed 241 U.S. military personnel taking part in the [[Multinational Force in Lebanon]], and spent the rest of that year and early 1984 patrolling the region. On 4 December 1983 ten [[A-6 Intruder|A-6]] aircraft from ''John F. Kennedy'' along with A-6 and [[A-7 Corsair II|A-7]] aircraft from {{USS|Independence|CV-62|6}} took part in a bombing raid over Beirut, in response to two U.S. F-14 aircraft being fired upon the previous day. The Navy lost two aircraft during the raid: an A-7E from ''Independence'' and an A-6E from ''John F. Kennedy'' were shot down by [[Surface-to-air missile|SAMs]]. The A-7E pilot was picked up by a fishing boat, but the A-6E pilot Lt. Mark Lange died after ejecting and the B/N Lt. [[Bobby Goodman|Robert "Bobby" Goodman]] was taken prisoner and released on 3 January 1984.<ref name="DANFS" />

In 1984 the ship was [[drydock]]ed at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a one-and-a-half-year complex overhaul and upgrades.

In 1985 ''John F. Kennedy'' received the initial awarding of the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] Phoenix Award for Maintenance Excellence for having the best maintenance department in the entire Department of Defense.<ref>[http://www.acq.osd.mil/log/mpp/awards/SecDef_Mx_Awards_History_thru_2011.pdf United States Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
{| style="margin:auto"
| [[File:DN-ST-87-01292.jpg|thumb|An elevated starboard quarter view of ''John F. Kennedy'' during the International Naval Review in New York Harbor, 4 July 1986]]
| 
[[File:F-14A VF-32 Exercise Display Determination Mediterranean 1986.JPEG|thumb|An [[Grumman F-14 Tomcat|F-14A]] of [[VF-32]] prepares to launch from ''John F. Kennedy'' during her 1986 Mediterranean cruise.]]
| [[File:USS JF Kennedy CV-67.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|US Naval Cover, 22 September 1982<br>Signed by Commanding Officer,<br>Denny Bruce Cargill]]
|}
Setting sail in July 1986, ''John F. Kennedy'' participated in the [[International Naval Review]] to help mark the [[Liberty Weekend|Re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty]]. ''John F. Kennedy'' served as the [[flagship]] for the [[Naval fleet|armada]] before departing on her eleventh overseas deployment to the Mediterranean in August{{Spaced en dash}}highlighted by multiple Freedom of Navigation exercises in the [[Gulf of Sidra]], and operations off of the coast of Lebanon as a response to increasing terrorist activities and U.S. citizens being taken hostage in Beirut. The ship returned to Norfolk, Virginia in March 1987 and was dry-docked a second time for fifteen months for critical upgrades and major repairs.

In August 1988 ''John F. Kennedy'' departed on her twelfth overseas deployment. During this deployment, a pair of [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23|MiG-23 Flogger]] [[fighter aircraft]] from Libya approached the carrier task force, which was {{convert|130|km|mi|order=flip}} off the shore of Libya near the declared Libyan territorial waters of the Gulf of Sidra. ''John F. Kennedy'' launched two F-14 Tomcats from VF-32 "Fighting Swordsmen" to intercept the incoming MiGs. The U.S. planes were sent to escort the MiGs away from the task force. During the course of the intercept, the MiGs were determined to be hostile and [[Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)|were both shot down]].