On 1 October 1995, "John F. Kennedy" was designated to be an operational reserve carrier and Naval Reserve Force ship with a combined full-time active duty and part-time Naval Reserve crew complement, assigned to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. "John F. Kennedy" would be available to deploy with either an active or reserve carrier air wing when mobilized in support of urgent operational requirements. In this capacity, "John F. Kennedy"s new primary function would be to provide a surge capability, and in peacetime, to support training requirements. She would participate in routine fleet exercises, aviator carrier qualifications, and battle group training. The impetus for this initiative was post-Cold War defense spending in the mid-1990s, however, the Naval Reserve was never adequately funded to accomplish major maintenance actions for the "John F. Kennedy", further exacerbated by additional defense cutbacks that eliminated Carrier Air Wing Reserve 30 and the downgrading of Carrier Air Wing Reserve 20 to a non-deployable Tactical Support Wing and the return of many of the Reserve's front-line combat aircraft to the active duty force. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, the Operational Reserve Carrier concept was discontinued and "John F. Kennedy" was returned to the active duty fleet and placed back in the same maintenance rotation as active duty carriers.