1st Lt. Michael Pence gets Wings
Vice President Mike Pence takes the stage with his son Marine 1st Lt. Michael Pence, third from left, who was among seven aviators earning their Wings of Gold at Naval Air Station Meridian in Meridian, Miss., on Friday. (Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star via AP)
The son of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has graduated from naval aviator training in Mississippi with his father looking on.
The Meridian Star reports Marine 1st Lt. Michael Pence was among seven pilots pinned with golden wings Friday at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi.
The vice president presented each graduate with a challenge coin.
Both Pences declined interviews.
Congratulations to Lt. Pence and it is refreshing to see something like this happen without all the usual political hyperbole.
Category: Military issues
“Both Pences declined interviews.” Whoa. You mean they weren’t going to step on the other aviators and their families by grandstanding? What’s happening here? The right thing, that’s what. Excellent.
Refreshing, isn’t it? Nice to have people in charge displaying actual leadership.
Along with showing some class!
Classy. I don’t agree with everything Pence, but he is a class act.
What exactly is it that you don’t agree with VP Pence?
I’m asking because he almost won my vote already for the 2024 primary.
But if you have something important I would like to know what it is. I don’t follow politics that much.
I wonder if he felt like the “black sheep” with that dark uniform among all those pristine white Navy Uniforms? 😉
Speaking of Naval aviation, what happened to AW1ED’s post regarding David Ingalls go?
Right here.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=81969
Thanks. It never made it to the “Recent Posts” list I guess. Good story, by the way. Ingalls was a success in every way a man can be.
Thank you.
BZ … now go bomb the schitz out of our enemy!
Didn’t think that the peace loving religion of our enemies allowed them to have any Schlitz, , or PBR, , or Falstaf, , or….? BZ LT Pence and his Naval Airdale Mateys.
They fed us that when I was in A-stan to try and justify Goddamn GO #1 but we saw mud hut shops chock full of Crown Royal and/or Foster’s as soon as we went out the gate on a Convoy Mission!
Piels, Rheingold, Shaeffer, Pabst, Knickabacker, etc
Wow, Jeff. Knickerbocker? Family drank that and when it stopped switched to Narragansett then Genessee. Yes, I come from high class 😉
Congrats, LT! Wonder which pipeline he’s getting- fixed or fling-wing, jet or prop. I suppose the F-35 is the hot platform now.
Meridian is one of two jet-pipeline sources.
As a newly-winged Marine Aviator coming out of NAS Meridian, he’ll be headed off to a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) to learn to fly one of the following:
– F/A-18C/D
– AV-8B
– F-35B
When he’s complete with the FRS, he’ll be sent to his first fleet squadron, where the “REAL” training will commence in preparation for his first operational deployment.
Now that he’s got his Wings of Gold, he’s about to find out that he’s still got a long road ahead of him before he’s fully qualified.
Outstanding!
[…] 1st Lt. Michael Pence gets Wings… […]
BZ!
BZ 1st LT Pence!
What uniform is that to the left of his son?
Yeah, I was wondering myself. British? He has a badge on his right breast the others don’t have.
French Navy Student Naval Aviator who got winged with this class.
http://www.meridianstar.com/news/local_news/vice-president-mike-pence-son-among-seven-earning-wings-at/article_f7f5815e-d946-5399-99d2-36d1347bbd95.html
From the linked article in my previous post.
‘[…]
For the seven graduates, which included one Marine Corps and one French Naval pilot, Mungas (CAPT Nicholas A. Mungas, the commander of Training Air Wing ONE) advised them to remember their support systems, something he stressed in one-on-one meetings with the pilots previously.
“There’s not one single pilot that’s just taking off of a ship. It’s a pyramid of people that goes all the way down to the sailor making the food,” Mungas said. “Never forget that that pyramid exists.”
[…].’
Wise counsel indeed.
The article also reports that the Mississippi Council of the Navy League presented the Golden Stick award to 1stLt Pence during the winging ceremony. The award is presented to the student aviator from a graduating class with the highest composite score.
Well done, 1stLt Pence.
Thanks.
Congratulations to the pilot and his fellow wing flappers!
Challenge coins? From the VP? And no interviews? It don’t get no better than that. Awesome!
As we age, momentos take on more value in terms of what they mean to us. That group of new pilots have something very exclusive. Those Challenge Coins are destined to be family heirlooms.
Good job, 1LT.