Choctaw sailor keeps Navy wing flying
A 2014 Carl Albert High School graduate and Choctaw native is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the premier naval air installation in the Pacific Northwest region.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Miko Brandon is an aviation machinist's mate serving with Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10.
A Navy aviation machinist's mate is responsible for aircraft engines and the auxiliary power unit on an aircraft.
“I just like working on aircraft,” Brandon said.
According to Navy officials, Wing 10 has continued to fly combat missions in direct support of the troops on the ground and delivered traditional maritime capabilities, real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Beginning in the 1960s, the P-3C Orion, a land-based, long-range anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft, replaced the P-2V Neptune fleet. After 50 years of service and the 50th anniversary of Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, the P-3C Orion is being phased out of the fleet and replaced by the P-8A Poseidon.
The P-8A is a modified Boeing airframe featuring a fully connected, open architecture mission system designed for longrange anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
"Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 mans, trains, and equips P-3 and P-8 squadrons to deploy anywhere, anytime,” said Capt. Rob Patrick, commodore of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
“We have a close-knit command, everyone takes care each other, and we are handling the P-3 phaseout as well as can be expected,” Brandon said.
“Being able to do something larger than yourself is why I serve,” he said.