LEMON GROVE NATIVE SERVES WITH NAVY STRIKE FIGHTER SQUADRON

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By Kayla Turnbow, Navy Office of Community Outreach

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Miller

May 31, 2018 (Lemoore, Calif.) - A 2003 Mount Miguel High School graduate and Lemon Grove, California, native is currently serving with a U.S. Navy strike fighter squadron which flies one of the world’s most advanced warplanes.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Kim Moorespicer is a yeoman with the Tophatters of VFA 14, which operates out of Naval Air Station Lemoore. A Navy yeoman is responsible for administrative duties of the command.

“I was taught to be respectful to others,” Moorespicer said. “I watch what I say to others and I make sure to treat my shipmates the way I want to be treated.”

Members of VFA 14 work with the F/A 18 Super Hornet, one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. The Super Hornet takes off from and lands on Navy aircraft carriers at sea and is capable of conducting air-to-air combat as well as striking targets on land. It is approximately 61 feet long, has a loaded weight of 51,000 lbs. and a max speed of 1,190 miles per hour.

Operating from sea aboard aircraft carriers, the Super Hornet gives the Navy the power to protect America’s interests anywhere, at any time. The versatile jet has the ability to destroy targets located hundreds of miles inland, without the need to get another country’s permission to operate within its borders.

“Strike Fighter Wing, U. S. Pacific Fleet, based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, is the heart of Naval Aviation,” said Capt. James S. Bates, Deputy Commodore, Strike Fighter Wing, U.S. Pacific. “The sailors assigned to SFWP always exceed expectations and produce amazing results through team work and dedication to their department, squadron, the U.S. Navy and their family. Naval Aviation is a challenging occupation, but our sailors work day in and day out to provide fully mission capable aircraft and fully qualified aircrew to ensure leadership is able to answer national level tasking. I am humbled to be able to lead the sailors of SFWP and I am proud to call Lemoore my home.”

Moorespicer has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.

“My dad was in the Navy,” said Moorespicer. “In a way I wanted to follow in his steps, but I couldn't all the way because he was a Navy seal. I wanted to keep the family tradition of being in the military.”

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Moorespicer and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.

“Serving in the Navy means trying to keep any threats away from America,” Moorespicer said. “It means serving my country and doing my time as my dad and grandfather did.”


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