Man born in Carmel made Chief of Naval Air Training
CARMEL, Calif. (KION-TV)- In a Change of Command Ceremony held in Corpus Christi, Texas, on July 19, a Central Coast man was made Chief of Naval Air Training.
Rear Adm. Richard Brophy Jr. relieved Rear Adm. Robert D. Westendorff, who had served as Chief of Naval Training since June 2020.
"Rear Adm. Westendorff, you've left me a well-oiled machine, focused appropriately on all the keys to succeed in our mission," said Brophy. "I look forward to working with your strong team and to furthering the many positive initiatives. CNATRA is well-positioned to train our naval aviators to meet the challenges of our future. I am humbled and honored to lead CNATRA. This is the job of a lifetime."
Brophy takes over as CNATRA after serving as the commanding officer of the Carrier Strike Group Four. He is a designated naval aviatior.
His operational assignments include tours with Strike Fighter Squadrons 105 and VFA-81 as both a weapons and tactics officer and department head, as well as VFA-115 and Carrier Air Wing Nine as the commanding officer.
Brophy graduated from the Navy Strike Fighter Tactics instructor course, known as TOPGUN. He has logged more than 4,000 flight hours and over 1,000 carrier-arrested landings in various jet aircraft.
"CNATRA, headquartered in Corpus Christi, trains the world's finest combat-quality naval aviation professionals, delivering them to our naval forces at the right time in the correct quantity with the right skills at the right cost."
