AEDC display aircraft dedicated to fallen naval aviator

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Oct. 3 was the kind of day a naval aviator loves -clear blue skies and gentle breezes, ideal for visual flight rules (VFR) flying. 

Arnold Air Force Base officials chose what Navy Cmdr. Todd Wilson, commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron One Three Seven (VFA-137) at Naval Air Station (NAS), Lemoore, Calif., said turned out to be a perfect day to dedicate an F/A-18A Hornet static display aircraft at Gate 2 to a fallen aviator and one of his best friends. 

That aviator was Wilson's former NAS Lemoore-based VFA-137 mate, Lt. Cmdr. Frank C. Wittwer, who died Jan. 18, 2006 while assigned to VFA-97 during a night-time training mission over California in preparation for deployment overseas. 

Commander Wilson, who was the guest speaker for the dedication ceremony, said Lieutenant Commander Wittwer was the kind of person who brought out the best in everyone he knew or came in contact with, regardless of rank or station in life. 

"Frank was everybody's friend and he was always inquisitive about things," Commander Wilson recalled. "My dad had a very successful [naval] career and Frank had a thousand questions for him. Frank shared his surface Navy experience but less so because he was so excited about flying and it has become, like for a lot of us, not quite an infatuation, but a large piece of our lives." 

Commander Wilson described a man who was very much like a brother to most people he met. 

"I first met Frank on my block; he moved into a house two doors down," Wilson said. "Wives quickly became best friends, kids were [of] a similar age and Frank and I were best friends right off the bat. 

"When he finished his training, he ended up coming to the same squadron; we ended up almost simultaneously showing up to VFA-137 and the next three years, shared if not six, [but] seven days-a-week with each other in one capacity or another." 

Commander Wilson and Lt. Cmdr. Matt Culp, an operations officer with VFA-147 at Lemoore, flew to the dedication ceremony in two F/A-18E aircraft from the base in south central California as a tribute to Wittwer. 

Lieutenant Commander Wittwer's friends and his fellow aviators at the dedication ceremony said they are all keenly aware of how a place like Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) impacts the warfighter and those they serve. 

"I do think that the people who work here do the nation a great service in bettering what is the incredible technology that goes into war and in protecting the nation," Commander Wilson said. "I think if they're connecting the human component to the technology that's going into what is worked on here, who knows, it's going to push somebody that much farther to say what I do here matters." 

Navy Cmdr. Steve Kroll, the 704th Test Systems Group deputy director, said being part of the F/A-18A dedication to Wittwer was especially significant to him, both as a naval aviator himself (Navy P-3 pilot) and in his professional role at Arnold. Commander Kroll, who is responsible for overseeing the acquisition of test systems and facility restoration and modernization projects at AEDC, said having a Navy aircraft that has been tested at the center dedicated to an aviator of Lieutenant Commander Wittwer's caliber seemed particularly appropriate. 

Commander Kroll also said the dedication ceremony also represents the culmination of the efforts of retired Navy Cmdr. Frank Moulds, the former 704th Maintenance Squadron commander, in acquiring the display aircraft, which is on loan through the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla. 

Looking over at the plaque, the display aircraft and Lieutenant Commander Wittwer's wife Mendi and friends of the family embrace and talk after the ceremony, Commander Wilson said, "The group of guys who were in VFA-137 at the time, even though most of us are still in [the Navy] and [are] having a good time in our current jobs, we still manage to get together. Some of it is the experience of going through the opening round of OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom] together, but I think much more so, it's just an amazing group of people who still value time together." 

Lieutenant Commander Wittwer, a 1994 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, received his undergraduate degree in systems engineering prior to beginning his active duty career as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard the USS California and the USS McFaul. Lt. Cmdr. Wittwer then transitioned to naval aviation and after earning his Wings of Gold, was assigned to fly the F/A-18 Hornet with the VFA-137 Kestrels in 2001. 

During his tour of duty with the Kestrels, Lieutenant Commander Wittwer deployed with the squadron in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and OIF from 2002 - 2003.
Subsequently, he was assigned to Strike Fighter Wing, Pacific Fleet as Safety Officer and a follow-on assignment with the VFA-97 Warhawks. Among other accomplishments, Lieutenant Commander Wittwer also completed the Executive MBA program at the California State University, Fresno's Craig School of Business.