I am always surprised at the Army's claim that carriers are a "WW3 platform". Would anyone like to remind them where that majority of CAS in Afghanistan comes from....US Carriers in the Indian Ocean.
Errr... no.
A small amount of the CAS in Afghanstan comes from the carriers. Most comes from land-based air inside the country. In fact, even during the initial op in 2002, more than 80% of the ordnance dropped was from aircraft that took off from US airbases [Mainly CONUS, but counting Diego Garcia].
Carriers are a vital element of power projection and a great influnce tool, but I wouldn't want to tie up too muchof the country's air power on them...