Into 1969, Lexington operated out of her home port, Pensacola, as well as Corpus Christi qualifying student aviators and maintaining the high state of training of both active-duty and reserve naval aviators.
Her work became of increasing significance as she prepared the men vital to the Navy and Marine Corps operations over Vietnam, where naval aviation played a major role.
Lexington marked her 200,000th arrested landing on 17 October 1967, and was redesignated CVT-16 on 1 January 1969.
She continued as a training carrier for the next 22 years until she was relieved by Forrestal, and Lexington was decommissioned and struck on 8 November 1991.

On 18 August 1980, Lexington became the first aircraft carrier in United States naval history to have women stationed aboard as crew members.

On 29 October 1989, a student naval aviator lost control of his T-2 training aircraft after an aborted attempt to land on Lexington's flight deck.
The aircraft inverted and hit the island with its left wing, killing four crew members (including the pilot of the plane who had begun an ejection sequence) and one civilian maintenance worker and injuring seventeen.
The island suffered no major damage, and fires from the burning fuel were extinguished within 15 minutes.

Lexington was the final Essex-class carrier in commission, after USS Oriskany had been decommissioned in 1976.
Into 1969, Lexington operated out of her home port, Pensacola, as well as Corpus Christi qualifying student aviators and maintaining the high state of training of both active-duty and reserve naval aviators. Her work became of increasing significance as she prepared the men vital to the Navy and Marine Corps operations over Vietnam, where naval aviation played a major role. Lexington marked her 200,000th arrested landing on 17 October 1967, and was redesignated CVT-16 on 1 January 1969. She continued as a training carrier for the next 22 years until she was relieved by Forrestal, and Lexington was decommissioned and struck on 8 November 1991.
On 18 August 1980, Lexington became the first aircraft carrier in United States naval history to have women stationed aboard as crew members.
On 29 October 1989, a student naval aviator lost control of his T-2 training aircraft after an aborted attempt to land on Lexington's flight deck. The aircraft inverted and hit the island with its left wing, killing four crew members (including the pilot of the plane who had begun an ejection sequence) and one civilian maintenance worker and injuring seventeen. The island suffered no major damage, and fires from the burning fuel were extinguished within 15 minutes.
Lexington was the final Essex-class carrier in commission, after USS Oriskany had been decommissioned in 1976.
USS Lexington (CV-16)