In an F-4 Phantom, Oshkosh Airshow 1991
About Me
My name is Stuart Wheeler and I am a 26 year old Student Naval Aviator in the US Marine Corps. I hail from the Pacific Northwest - Seattle, Portland, and British Columbia. I'm an American and Canadian citizen and proud of both countries. I love playing ice hockey and have for the past 16 years of my life and this will be the first year without it, thank you Pensacola and your backwards ways. While I don't get to play enough, I am at times rather competent at the French horn and would probably be equally happy playing in a professional orchestra. I have an unhealthy obsession with the F-14 and F/A-18, but I try to manage it with weekly meetings. I have a financially dangerous love of cars and motorcycles and have so far managed to limit myself to just one of each. I love history and politics but my knowledge is frustratingly limited so I spend what time I can learning about them. I miss the Cold War. I want very specific things in my life. I'm extremely picky about almost everything. I am fiercely idealistic and equally optimistic about this country, mankind, and the world. I am acutely aware of my shortcomings and work daily to overcome them. I take great pleasure in living every day and there is rarely a time when I am unhappy - I am doing what I love. My music collection has stayed relatively the same for the past 10 years - why, I do not know. I avoid BS and drama like the plague - life is much too short for it. I am independent to a fault most of the time and don't get out and be with people nearly as much as I want or should. I am an elitist - I like Starbucks, BMW's, intelligent conversation, good beer, Apple products, and classical music. I also can't stand cooking but I'm trying to accept it into my heart.
Most of all, I value my family and friends over everything. They are the backbone of my life and without their guidance and support, I most likely would not be where I am today. So, thank you, to those of you reading this.
Aviation Goals
UPDATE: on June 18th, 2009 the Aviation Gods shined down upon me and I selected Jets out of NAS Meridian, MS.
The near goal: to select Jets and fly the T-45C Goshawk at NAS Meridian, MS.
My dream assignment: to fly the F/A-18C Hornet out of MCAS Miramar with VMFA-323, the Death Rattlers.
I am specific about the squadron because while they are a part of the 3rd Marine Air Wing, they deploy with Carrier Air Wing 9 aboard the John C. Stennis aircraft carrier. I want to deploy on the boat, live in a really confined space, fly every day, and land in awful weather - but maybe only one tour.
It will be interesting to see what actually transpires and how close I come to my "dream." The way this whole process works, the likelihood of that actually happening is about a 0.0001% chance. That's why we have goals - to give us something to work towards.
Why the Tomcat Hangar?
The Tomcat Hangar began in February of 2006 on a rather somber note. The F-14 Tomcat had recently made its last carrier trap and was soon to be retired from service with the US Navy. I was depressed for months and I needed an outlet for my grief besides my dad and brother. With the idea of a blog to express my sorrow, my brother suggested the appropriately named title and I entered the world-o-blogs with a teary-eyed tribute to the Tomcat.
The blog, with no major news of a Tomcat resuscitation, quickly became dormant. It wasn't until I was leaving to start my new career in the Marine Corps did I return to the Tomcat Hangar. Since then, Sept. 2007, I have been trying to document all happenings in my life both good and bad, in and out of the Marines. Prior to commissioning, I had been rather frustrated with the lack of information and details about what my life was going to entail in the Marines. Little had been written about it and I decided to do my part to help the next generation of 2nd Lieutenants looking for a glimpse into life at The Basic School or US Navy Flight School.
More than documentation for the sake of unknown 2nd Lts, I wanted a record of what I had done. I moved my blog from Blogspot to this site to better facilitate my online record keeping and make it easier for those who care to keep track of what I'm doing. It will evolve over time but will reflect my interests, goals, and current activities and hopefully be somewhat interesting.
Thanks for reading and I am always interested in what other people are doing and if you have a blog or would just like to update me, I would love to hear from you. I would also appreciate it if people left me interesting links, articles, or comments in general - you can do that on the Comment page in the navigation column.