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Hawkeye Squadron CO Hits 4,000 Hour Milestone
Story Number: NNS030127-07
Release Date: 1/27/2003 11:11:00 AM
By Journalist Seaman Michael Perez, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs
ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, At Sea (NNS) -- Many amazing things happen on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. The ballet of planes moving over the flight deck to the careful choreography of its personnel is continually punctuated by the shriek of planes launching and the pounding of planes landing.
On the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), another amazing thing happened. Carrier Airborne Early Warning (VAW) Squadron 124's Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Vincent Bowhers, landed after completing 4,000 hours of flight time in the E-2C Hawkeye Jan. 16.
Bowhers has flown with VAW-120, VAW-122, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 and VAW-123. He credits his many hours of flying to the hard work of the Sailors that maintain the aircraft.
“I’m lucky to have been in so many great squadrons to get that many hours,” said Bowhers. “Behind everyone of those flight hours are many hours of maintenance, and hard work by a lot of Sailors. It’s because of that maintenance that I was able to fly those 4,000 hours safely.”
Bowhers, a former Boy Scout, attributed his influence in joining the Navy to one of his Boy Scout leaders, a retired Navy pilot, and the fact that he is quite fond of the sea.
“The Navy just made sense,” he said.
A couple of Bowhers’ naval career accomplishments include landing the first Navy E-2C on the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles deGaulle. The deGaulle flies a variant of the E-2C, but his was the first American arrested landing of one aboard. He also took part in the D-Day celebrations in France, where he flew an E-2C in an air show that featured several planes painted in World War II colors.
For related news, visit the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cvn71.
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