NAS OCEANA, Va. — The largest F/A-18 squadron on the East Coast is right here in our backyard: the Rhino Demo Team of VFA-106 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.
One squadron member is Lt. Joe Rooney, a weapons system officer.
"We all serve as instructors in the Navy Monday through Friday. And on the weekends, we're privileged enough to take the jet on the road and demonstrate its capabilities," said Lt. Rooney.
When I asked him what he loves the most about his job, he responded, "I would say, getting to teach new aviators how to fly the F/A-18. They come in with, you know, 100 hours total, and we get to teach them from day one, basically, how to fly it and then how to employ it as a tactical aircraft in combat if necessary. VFA-106, that's our parent squadron, the demo teams are a small part of it. 106 is the East Coast training squadron for the F/A-18 for the Navy. So, call it 50% of naval aviators that are gonna fly the F/A-18 come through here to go from how to start the aircraft to how to drop a bomb."
They also enjoy interacting with the community from their roles on the demo (demonstration) team when they're on the road doing air shows.
"The best part is honestly inspiring the young kids, the next generation. So getting to interact with the kids and inspire them to do the best in whatever they want to do, but specifically to go fly jets later in life—it's awesome," says Lieutenant Commander Mark Buck.
Vicky Gibbons, a weapons systems officer, agrees: "Well, first of all, the flight itself for the air shows is absolutely incredible and lots of fun, but mostly the community connection when we go out to these cities and all the people we get to meet."
The team members who keep the aircraft running and in the air are the maintainers.
Joshua Singleton, an aviation structural mechanic, explains his responsibilities: "I deal with structures, hydraulics, tires, brakes."
Katie Abel is also a maintainer. Her title is slightly longer: structural mechanic, egress and environmental control systems.
"It means that I work on the ejection seats, so I keep the pilot safe, and I also work on the air conditioning system of the aircraft to keep the avionics cool and the pilots cool while they fly," she shares.
The maintainers also go on the road. Singleton says he loves that part of the mission of the air shows is to help with recruitment.
"It's life-changing because it's almost as if we're making a change. We are investing into the future," he shares.
Lt. Mason Louthan, another weapons systems officer, enjoys the camaraderie of the team.
"Whether it's from all the maintenance personnel or the other air crew we get to fly with each day, they bring a new... energy that we bring every single day to our flights," he says.
The Rhino Demo Team from VFA-106 is our News 3 Squadron of the Month!
