Mission, Vision, and Guiding Principles

Our Mission:

The mission of the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation is to preserve and honor the legacy of the HORNET name and the role of this national historic landmark in World War II and Apollo Space Vehicle Recovery operations in order to educate the public and inspire American youth.

Our Guiding Principles:

• Hornet is dedicated first and foremost to those men and women who made the greatest sacrifice in the service of their nation.
• We will be responsive to the community and will maintain the Hornet Museum Complex as a community asset, a community resource, and an integral part of the community.
• We will preserve the historic fabric of the ship.
• We will create an exciting, stimulating, and state-of-the-art Museum environment, and an attractive and comfortable setting which will encourage its use for family recreation.
• We will create a stimulating, creative, and innovative work/study/research environment, and work as a staff/volunteer team in support of these common goals.

Our Vision:

Our foremost artifact is the Hornet herself and we will not obscure any aspect of the ship.

Our core collection will include:

• A portrayal of the U.S.S. Hornets since 1775, with an emphasis on CV-8 and CV-12 through World War II, the 1950s, and the 1960s, including without Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 recoveries.
• Displays of aircraft that have operated off Hornet and other Essex-class carriers.
• The operational history of all other Essex-class carriers.
• The history of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps forces in the Pacific and Far East.

We will have exciting temporary exhibits, for example:

• The Doolittle Raid and the Chinese connection.
• Allied P.0.W.s in World War II through Vietnam.
• Espionage activities in the Pacific and Far East during the 1930s.
• Pacific fleet activities during the Cold War.
• Exhibits depicting naval aviation's origins, including the world's first arrested landing and ship takeoff -- U.S.S. Pennsylvania, San Francisco Bay, 1911.

We will have world-class restaurants and state-of-the-art movie and video theaters.

We will become a site of community events:

• Symphony, theater, and ballet events -- jazz and film festivals.
• Benefits and fund-raisers for cultural groups (e.g., San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, Hornet and other Museum organizations).
• Benefits for humanitarian causes.
• Museum Societies' annual meetings and conventions.
• Civic and professional organizations meetings, parties, symposiums, and dinners (e.g., Association of NavalAviation, Navy League, Chamber of Commerce, banks, corporations, other trade associations -- most local and state-wide)

We will be of service to the children and youth of the community:

• Grade school through university -- live aboard programs, field trips, on-board classes (e.g., naval history, science, engineering, navigation, leadership training, character building).
• Programs involving NROTC/NJROTC cadets, Sea cadets, both Boy and Girl Scout groups, Y-Youth groups, church and other youth groups.
• Teacher education, seminars, and symposiums.

We will preserve Hornet as a ceremonial ship:

• Carry on the tradition and legacy of Fleet Week and the U.S. Navy's presence in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1845.
• Conduct special events on national and patriotic holidays, including the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day.
• Group Reunions (e.g., former Hornet Crew and air groups, other carrier and ship organizations, Pearl Harbor Survivors, Vietnam Veterans).
• Enlistments, re-enlistments, and retirements.