KINGSVILLE, Texas - A 2013 Neuqua Valley High School graduate and Naperville, 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 Nikhil "Nick" Nair is a student pilot with the “Redhawks” of Training Squadron (VT) 21, based in Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas. The squadron flies T-45C Goshawk aircraft.
A Navy student pilot is responsible for developing the knowledge and skills to become a tactical naval aviator.
“I enjoy combining my passion for flying with my desire to serve my country,” Nair said. “The everyday challenge brings in the pursuit of perfecting the skills required to fly Navy fighter aircraft."
Nair credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Naperville.
“Neuqua Valley's rigorous academic program helped me develop a lifelong pursuit of academic perfection,” Nair said.
The T-45C Goshawk is a tandem-seat, jet trainer aircraft powered by a twin-spool non-afterburn turbofan engine with 5,527 pounds of thrust and airspeed of 645 mph.
VT-21’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 many 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 F/A-18 Hornet fighter attack jet aircraft or the F-35 Lightning joint strike fighter jet. 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.
Nair 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, Nair is most proud of graduating from the academy and a receiving a bachelor's degree in systems engineering.
“It represents the culmination of four years of academic and military training towards becoming an officer in the world’s greatest military,” Nair said.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Nair 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 being a motive force in defending the rights and liberties granted to us as citizens of the world's greatest nation,” Nair said.
A Navy student pilot is responsible for developing the knowledge and skills to become a tactical naval aviator.
“I enjoy combining my passion for flying with my desire to serve my country,” Nair said. “The everyday challenge brings in the pursuit of perfecting the skills required to fly Navy fighter aircraft."
Nair credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Naperville.
“Neuqua Valley's rigorous academic program helped me develop a lifelong pursuit of academic perfection,” Nair said.
The T-45C Goshawk is a tandem-seat, jet trainer aircraft powered by a twin-spool non-afterburn turbofan engine with 5,527 pounds of thrust and airspeed of 645 mph.
VT-21’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 many 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 F/A-18 Hornet fighter attack jet aircraft or the F-35 Lightning joint strike fighter jet. 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.
Nair 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, Nair is most proud of graduating from the academy and a receiving a bachelor's degree in systems engineering.
“It represents the culmination of four years of academic and military training towards becoming an officer in the world’s greatest military,” Nair said.
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Nair 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 being a motive force in defending the rights and liberties granted to us as citizens of the world's greatest nation,” Nair said.