Commander, CVW 8 completes 1,000th trap

USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH, At Sea (NNS) -- Commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 Capt. Jeff Davis successfully completed his 1,000th career trap, Aug. 1.

Davis made an arrested landing with an F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213, on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). He joined the rarified air-club two weeks after his second in command, CVW-8 Deputy Commander Capt. Daniel W. Dwyer, performed the same feat. Davis and Dwyer are the only two men aboard the Navy's newest aircraft carrier to complete 1,000 career traps.

"While we were fortunate enough to complete it here, it is a milestone that spans multiple carriers and multiple deployments," said Davis, who completed his first trap on the conventional-powered aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CV 43).

"It's not anything that someone would see coming when he joins the Navy," he added. "But if you do the business long enough, it becomes one of those milestones that you aim for and hope to achieve because there are so few people that have the opportunity to do it."

George H.W. Bush Commanding Officer Capt. Brian E. Luther presented Davis with a handcrafted plaque embedded with a piece of arresting wire to commemorate the achievement. VFA-213's command coin was set in the walnut wood above the tailhook to represent the squadron with which he made his historic trap.

In the weeks leading up to both men's 1,000th trap, Dwyer said Davis often joked about putting the other on the bench in order to get ahead.

"He said I was flying too much," Dwyer said with a laugh. "He was going to take me off the flight schedule for a few days until he got a little closer."

However, neither took the race to 1,000 very seriously.
"There is no other person I would rather share this with," said Davis.

Dwyer added that the missions they supported in hostile theaters far outweighed any type of numbers game.

"It was never a race in my opinion," said Dwyer. "Like anything in the Navy, it's all about timing."

The timing of the traps came during a milestone year for naval aviation.

"The fact that this took place during the Centenial of Naval Aviation is [fortunate]," Davis said. "We have so much to be proud of for the last 100 years of naval aviation."

CVW-8 includes the "Golden Warriors" of VFA-87, the "Valions" of VFA-15, the "Fighting Blacklions" of VFA-213, the "Tomcatters" of VFA-31, the "Bear Aces" of Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 124, the "Shadowhawks" of Electronic Warfare Squadron (VAQ) 141, the "Tridents" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9, and the "Spartans" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70.

George H.W. Bush is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility on its first operational deployment conducting maritime security operations and support missions as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.

For more news from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn77/.