CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A quick pit stop at Centennial Airport was a return home for Alexander Hodges, a weapon system officer for the United States Navy.
He and other members of Fleet Replacement Squadron VFA 106 were on their way from Virginia to Nevada when they stopped at the Colorado airport for much-needed fuel for themselves and their F-18 Super Hornet aircraft.
“They've got a restaurant here, which is always handy,” said Hodges. “It takes us six to nine hours to get from the East Coast to Fallon or other areas that we'll go to out to the West. We get a little bit hungry in the jet.”
This isn’t the first time that Hodges has been at the airport or even the restaurant inside of it. He grew up just down the road in unincorporated Arapahoe County.
“I would actually come to this airport as a kid every once in a while. I just kind of watched the planes. [I] went to Cherry Creek High School,” said Hodges. “I grew up a Broncos fan, played golf at the Family Fun Center and everything as a kid. I grew up here.”
A weapon systems officer (WSO) is the person in the back of the cockpit behind the pilot. They are responsible for pretty much everything besides flying the plane — handling weapons, communications, data entry, navigation, and a host of other responsibilities.
VFA 106 LCDR Collin Newcomb, Hodges’ pilot for this trip, knows how valuable a good WSO can be.
“One plus one doesn't necessarily equal two," said Newcomb. “If you have a bad WSO, it could be a detraction on your performance in the jet. Having a good WSO is important because one plus one could equal greater than two. It depends on the guy you have in the backseat, also depends on the guy you have in the front seat and if they mash well together.”
Newcomb and Hodges went through F-18 flight school together and each had their own deployments on separate aircraft carriers. They’ve recently reunited in VFA 106, a fleet replacement squadron for the US Navy, training newly winged pilots on how to properly operate the F-18 Super Hornet.
The duo stopped in Centennial on their way to Fallon, Nevada, to train new students.
“Their first time dropping a live bomb will be out there,” said Hodges. “We'll do some other practice employments, and we'll practice close air support. They’ll be trained to release munitions that will impact… as close as a few dozen meters from friendlies.”
For the kid who grew up imagining himself flying over the mountains in a fighter jet, reality still sometimes feels like a dream.
“Every single flight, I still have at least one moment where I kind of have to pinch myself,” said Hodges. “I can't believe I actually get to do this for a living. It's still kind of surreal.”
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