Naval Aviator

I flew for twenty years, mostly in the F/A-18 Hornet — TOPGUN graduate and Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor, joint and coalition strike lead, qualified Landing Signal Officer, and commanding officer of a jet training squadron. 3,300+ flight hours (all turbine) and 720 carrier landings.

Seven WestPAC deployments — plus a year in the desert playing Army — including three and a half years forward-deployed from Japan. Three were combat cruises; I flew them as Operations Officer on one and Maintenance Officer on another, directing sustained combat flight operations and keeping a squadron of Hornets in the fight. Carrier aviation is the harshest flying environment there is — pitching decks, moonless nights, no divert field — unforgiving and demanding.

That path culminated in command of Training Squadron NINE, where I led 160 personnel and a $70M flight-hour program — improving instructor productivity 30%, cutting student time-to-train 10%, and flying the squadron through a year with a perfect safety record and zero mishaps. In 2009 it won the VADM Robert Goldthwaite Award as the outstanding squadron in Naval Air Training Command — the Navy's top training squadron.