Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Miller
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.- A 2016 homeschool graduate and Jiggs, Nevada, native is currently serving with a U.S. Navy strike fighter squadron, which flies one of the world’s most advanced warplanes.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Nolan Cumming is an aviation structural mechanic with the Gladiators of VFA 106, which operates out of Naval Air Station Oceana. A Navy aviation structural mechanic is responsible for all of the structural components of the aircraft including hydraulics and landing gears.
Cumming credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Jiggs.
“If you can have a hard work ethic you can do a lot in the Navy,” said Cumming. “If you show up and do the work knowing that this is where you are supposed to be, then you will be successful.”
Members of VFA 106 fly and maintain 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 pounds, 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. Super Hornets are an all-weather aircraft used as an attack aircraft as well as a fighter. In its fighter mode, the F/A-18 is used primarily as a fighter escort and for fleet air defense; in its attack mode, it is used for interdiction and air support.
“You see stuff at VFA 106 that you won’t see anywhere else,” said Cumming. “We have so many jets and pilots that you are going to learn so much. The number of Super Hornets we get to work on allows us to learn our jobs well.”
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, according to Navy officials, 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.
Cumming is playing an important part 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, Cumming is most proud of earning a meritorious mast.
“There is a good mast and bad one and thankfully I received the good one for going above and beyond,” said Cumming. “I was on a detachment where there were some logistics issues that I was able to assist with and make sure things were taken care of.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Cumming 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 that God has called me to serve,” added Cumming. “Me coming to work every day creates good pilots that are going out to the fleet. They are serving our nation and protecting my family back home.”
Cumming credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned growing up in Jiggs.
“If you can have a hard work ethic you can do a lot in the Navy,” said Cumming. “If you show up and do the work knowing that this is where you are supposed to be, then you will be successful.”
Members of VFA 106 fly and maintain 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 pounds, 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. Super Hornets are an all-weather aircraft used as an attack aircraft as well as a fighter. In its fighter mode, the F/A-18 is used primarily as a fighter escort and for fleet air defense; in its attack mode, it is used for interdiction and air support.
“You see stuff at VFA 106 that you won’t see anywhere else,” said Cumming. “We have so many jets and pilots that you are going to learn so much. The number of Super Hornets we get to work on allows us to learn our jobs well.”
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, according to Navy officials, 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.
Cumming is playing an important part 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, Cumming is most proud of earning a meritorious mast.
“There is a good mast and bad one and thankfully I received the good one for going above and beyond,” said Cumming. “I was on a detachment where there were some logistics issues that I was able to assist with and make sure things were taken care of.”
As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Cumming 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 that God has called me to serve,” added Cumming. “Me coming to work every day creates good pilots that are going out to the fleet. They are serving our nation and protecting my family back home.”