Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Miller
LEMOORE, Calif.- A 2011 Burlington High School graduate and Burlington, Kansas, native is currently serving with a U.S. Navy strike fighter squadron, which flies one of the world’s most advanced warplanes.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Bret Stumbaugh is an aviation administrationman with the Mighty Shrikes of VFA 94, which operates out of Naval Air Station Lemoore. A Navy aviation administrationman is responsible for maintaining logs and records for all the jets in the squadron. “I wanted to get out of my small town and travel the world,” Stumbaugh said. “The Navy definitely broadened my view about the whole world instead of just the small community I was from.”
Members of VFA 94 work with the F/A 18 Super Hornet, one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. The Super Hornet takes off from and lands on Navy aircraft carriers at sea and is capable of conducting air-to-air combat as well as striking targets on land. It is approximately 61 feet long, has a loaded weight of 51,000 lbs., and a max speed of 1,190 miles per hour.
Operating from sea aboard aircraft carriers, the Super Hornet gives the Navy the power to protect America’s interests anywhere, at any time. The versatile jet has the ability to destroy targets located hundreds of miles inland, without the need to get another country’s permission to operate within its borders.
“Strike Fighter Wing, U. S. Pacific Fleet, based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, is the heart of Naval Aviation,” said Capt. James S. Bates, Deputy Commodore, Strike Fighter Wing, U.S. Pacific. “The sailors assigned to SFWP always exceed expectations and produce amazing results through team work and dedication to their department, squadron, the U.S. Navy and their family. Naval Aviation is a challenging occupation, but our sailors work day in and day out to provide fully mission capable aircraft and fully qualified aircrew to ensure leadership is able to answer national level tasking. I am humbled to be able to lead the sailors of SFWP and I am proud to call Lemoore my home.”
Stumbaugh has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“My father served as a nuclear machinist's mate on the USS James Madison,” said Stumbaugh. “He was a big reason I joined. It is a bond him and I share.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Stumbaugh 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 allows me to focus on others rather than myself,” Stumbaugh said. “It means being able to do more with my life. You can't join the military for yourself, it has to be for others. That mentality is what will get you through.”