Well - an S-3 has pretty good legs..
True, but they are all on the their way to some quiet retirement spots
in the desert.

With 2 drops they can fly about 7.5 on max conserve. That m=ADight be
to
low fuel warning lights though....

Its arguable that an aircraft in the vein of a Spad would have been a
much more suitable platform to have orbiting over Fallujah than what is
now available. While youir point about the Hoovers' long legs is a good
one, how many War Hoovers were waiting overhead to drop when the
Marines called? How dependent is carrier air on land based assets such
as tanker and ELINT today? Answer is: pretty much completely.
That's a particularly awkward issue in these tight budget times
considering that the traditional big selling point of carriers has
always been their ability to function *without* (the now absolutely
essential) land based support.
In 1961 the typical airgroup could boast an effective *unrefueled*
radius of 2000nm carrying a 12000 lb weapon(and that internally to
boot). Can a 2005 vintage CVG even match half of that 1961 era
unrefueled combat radius and deliver ordinace the size of a ~5000 lb.
GBU-37?