CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A 2013 Warren Township High School graduate and Gurnee, Illinois, native is participating in a rigorous training process that transforms officers into U.S. naval aviators.
 |
| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Finley |
Ensign Sami Usmani is a student pilot with the “Stingrays” of Training Squadron (VT) 35, based in Naval Air Station Corpus, Christi, Texas. The squadron flies the T-44C Pegasus aircraft.
A Navy student pilot is responsible for training to become a multi-engine pilot and part of the maritime community.
“I enjoy flying the aircraft and being able to learn the ins and outs of the community,” Usmani said.
Usmani credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Gurnee.
“Growing up, I was exposed to a wide diverse community, that made learning different teaching styles easier to learn in my Naval career,” Usmani said.
The T-44C Pegasus is a twin-engine, pressurized, fixed-wing monoplane used for advanced turboprop radar aircraft training using two 550 shaft horsepowered engines, with a cruising airspeed of 287 mph.
VT-35’s primary mission is to train future naval aviators to fly as well as instill leadership and officer values, Navy officials explained. Students must complete four phases of flight training in order to graduate, including aviation pre-flight indoctrination, primary flight training, and advanced flight training. After successfully completing the rigorous program, naval aviators earn their coveted “Wings of Gold.”
After graduation, pilots continue their training to learn how to fly a specific aircraft, such as the Navy’s P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft or Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. They are later assigned to a ship or land-based squadron.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
Usmani plays an important role in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of National Defense Strategy.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community and career, Usmani is most proud of being accepted into the naval aviation community.
“This is what I set out to do since my freshman year of college,” Usmani said. “I couldn't go straight into the aviation community, I had to pass the high standard Aviation Selection Test Battery.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Usmani and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy means a lot to me, becoming part of something that is bigger than me and having a positive impact on a global scale,” Usmani said. “I could never achieve that in another career field.”
A Navy student pilot is responsible for training to become a multi-engine pilot and part of the maritime community.
“I enjoy flying the aircraft and being able to learn the ins and outs of the community,” Usmani said.
Usmani credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Gurnee.
“Growing up, I was exposed to a wide diverse community, that made learning different teaching styles easier to learn in my Naval career,” Usmani said.
The T-44C Pegasus is a twin-engine, pressurized, fixed-wing monoplane used for advanced turboprop radar aircraft training using two 550 shaft horsepowered engines, with a cruising airspeed of 287 mph.
VT-35’s primary mission is to train future naval aviators to fly as well as instill leadership and officer values, Navy officials explained. Students must complete four phases of flight training in order to graduate, including aviation pre-flight indoctrination, primary flight training, and advanced flight training. After successfully completing the rigorous program, naval aviators earn their coveted “Wings of Gold.”
After graduation, pilots continue their training to learn how to fly a specific aircraft, such as the Navy’s P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft or Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. They are later assigned to a ship or land-based squadron.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
Usmani plays an important role in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of National Defense Strategy.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community and career, Usmani is most proud of being accepted into the naval aviation community.
“This is what I set out to do since my freshman year of college,” Usmani said. “I couldn't go straight into the aviation community, I had to pass the high standard Aviation Selection Test Battery.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Usmani and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy means a lot to me, becoming part of something that is bigger than me and having a positive impact on a global scale,” Usmani said. “I could never achieve that in another career field.”