Cmdr. Erick Kammeyer relieved Cmdr. Sam Gray as commanding officer of the "Eagles" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 115, during a ceremony held at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni (MCASI), Japan, April 18.

In his farewell remarks, Gray thanked his family and friends for their support during his command tour, and encouraged VFA-115 personnel to continue to pursue professional challenges.

"The business of naval aviation needs you to charge the mountain and accept that failure can be an outcome," said Gray. "Do these actions invite risk? Yes, but it is less than the risk of systemic aversion. Welcome the challenge because, whether you succeed or fail, you will become stronger."

Kammeyer, a Woodburn, Indiana, native, became the 70th Commanding Officer in VFA-115's history. Kammeyer completed a training officer tour with VFA-115 and a department head tour with the "Dambusters" of VFA-195. He was then selected for a Personnel Exchange Program tour flying the F-22 Raptor with the US Air Force's 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron, where he served as the commander of the F-22 division. Kammeyer has accumulated more than 3,400 flight hours and 800 carrier arrested landings

Gray, a Lyme, New Hampshire, native, joined the Eagles as executive officer in November 2015 and assumed command in January 2017. Gray led the Eagles through five Western Pacific patrols, two trans-Pacific detachments, and a change of station from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, to MCASI, completing 5,570 sorties and 8,925 flight hours at 98.1 percent sortie completion rate. During these operations, the squadron performed in multiple joint and multinational exercises, including Talisman Saber 2017, Maritime Counter Special Operations Exercise 2017, and Annual Exercise 2017.

Established in 1942, VFA-115 is one of the oldest active aviation squadrons in the U.S. Navy. The squadron has seen combat in the Pacific theater of World War II, at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, in southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, VFA-115 was the first squadron to deploy with the F/A-18E Super Hornet, the most advanced operational strike fighter in the U.S. Navy inventory.

VFA-115 is currently forward deployed to Iwakuni, Japan, as a component of Carrier Air Wing 5 and regularly embarks the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) in support of security and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

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