Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Miller
LEMOORE, Calif.- A 2011 McDowell High School graduate and Erie, Pennsylvania, 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 Peyton Stankiewicz is an aviation structural mechanic with the Flying Eagles of VFA 122, which operates out of Naval Air Station Lemoore. A Navy aviation structural mechanic is responsible for maintaining all of the structure, hydraulics, and landing gears on the aircraft. “I was taught a hard work ethic growing up,” Stankiewicz said. “Even after working long days, you wake up again and have to keep in mind to work hard.”
Members of VFA 122 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.”
Stankiewicz has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“Both of my grandparents were in the military, one in the Navy during WWII and one in the Army during Korea,” said Stankiewicz. “My uncle really motivated me to join the Navy. He traveled a lot of the world while he served. I knew that was something I wanted to do.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Stankiewicz 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 part of something that not everyone can do,” Stankiewicz said. “I keep doing it every day because I like the job and I like the people I work with.”