While Navy squadrons do stencil crew names onto aircraft, the airplanes are not assigned for missions on this basis. They are simply rotated in a pool, and at any given time some number of planes are out of rotation for maintenance purposes. Each airwing flew two squadrons of F-14s numbered in the 100s and 200s. Other aircraft types had planes in higher ranges. The lowest numbered airplane in each squadron is nicknamed "nuts", and these are all stenciled with the airwing commander's name. Each squadron has its own commanding officer, and his crew's names would be on the plane numbered -01. The executive officer is on aircraft -02, followed by senior officers in descending order. There are more crews than airplanes, so junior officers are only on airplanes if they are crewed with a senior aircraft commander. In the case of the F-14, radar intercept officers ("backseaters") are in the line of command all the way up to squadron CO, so it is possible to find an F-14 with a senior RIO in the rear seat and a more junior pilot in the front. This was true in 1986.

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