U.S. Navy Ensign Dylan Carmona, a native of Corona, is a student pilot assigned to Training Air Wing Four (TRAWING 4) at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas.
TRAWING 4 is composed of four training squadrons that conduct primary, intermediate and advanced flight training for Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard pilots.
Carmona, who joined the Navy a year ago, graduated from Santiago High School in 2018 and received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from California Baptist University in 2022.
U.S. Navy Ensign Dylan Carmona (Courtesy of U.S. Navy)
“I have always had a calling to join the Navy and it is the only branch I ever considered. Naval aviation is what I wanted to do because Navy pilots are the best in the world. It takes a special person to do this job,” Carmona said in a news release.
Naval aviation students must complete many phases of flight training to graduate, including aviation preflight indoctrination, primary flight training and advanced flight training, according to the news release.
After graduation, pilots continue their training to learn how to fly a specific aircraft, such as the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter attack jet, the F-35 Lightning strike fighter jet or the SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. These aircraft take off from and land on Navy aircraft carriers at sea.
“Our community has the greatest camaraderie. Ultimately, due to the nature of our job, we are very disciplined. There are two sides to us: the person you are and the aviator you will become,” Carmona said in the news release.
“I want to thank my father, Ivan, who taught me everything,” Carmona said. “He taught me how to be a leader and how to be a man who can navigate life.”
