Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Mike Stevens visited Aviation Survival Training Center (ASTC) Patuxent (Pax) River, Maryland, Nov. 12. Rather than simply visit and shake hands, though, the MCPON was on hand to take part in training for an upcoming mission.

Specifically, he was treated to a back seat ride in an F-18, part of a refresher for Category 1 aircraft training. MCPON Stevens is one of the more than 1,700 personnel that ASTC Pax River trains annually. It is one of eight centers within the Naval Survival Training Institute (NSTI), and it makes sense that the Navy's most senior enlisted Sailor took part in training.

"We are the best at what we do," said Lt. Cdr. Daniel Immeker, ASTC Pax River director. "Not only do we provide high-risk training every day, we do it with the lowest injury rate across the Navy."

ASTC Pax River provides realistic, innovative and safe training that optimizes operational readiness for the naval aviation enterprise, in addition to joint and coalition warfighters. The center staffs 15 military and five civilian personnel and provides 36 classes a year, not including additional classes for Naval Academy midshipmen and Reserve Officers' Training Corps members.

NSTI is under the command of Navy Medicine Operational Training Center, a global health care network of Navy medical professionals who provide high-quality health care to more than one million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ships, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.

For more news from Navy Medicine Operational Training Center, visit www.navy.mil/local/NMOTC/.