Local Serves With Navy Strike Fighter Squadron

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Electa Berassa, Navy Office of Community Outreach

LEMOORE, CA. – A 1996 Franklin D. Roosevelt graduate and Poughkeepsie, New York, native is currently serving with a U.S. Navy strike fighter squadron, which flies one of the world’s most advanced warplanes.

Senior Chief Jason Evangelista is an aviation electronics technician with The Kestrels of VFA 137, which operates out of Naval Air Station Lemoore. A Navy aviation electronics technician is responsible for working on various avionics components. Furthermore, as the quality assurance supervisor, Evangelista makes sure that everyone stays safe on the job.

“I can always say the support from my family has instilled a strong work ethic in me,” Evangelista said. “And I’ve learned some hard life lessons which helped make me a career as a Navy sailor.”

Members of VFA 137 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.

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

“My brother just retired from the Navy,” said Evangelista. “He joined before me and was the leading cause of me deciding to join. I saw how it set his course in life and thought it was time to give it a try. And it worked out.”

Evangelista is also proud of earning the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal in December for coordinating multiple command events.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Evangelista 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 a lot to me,” Evangelista said. “A big part of that means serving with honor and holding myself and others to a higher standard.”