MILTON, Fla. — The U.S. Navy named Lynn native Stephen Harrington the 58th commanding officer of the “Shooters,” or Training Squadron Six, in a ceremony at Whiting Field Naval Air Station in Florida.
As the squad’s new commanding officer, Harrington will provide primary flight training to selected student naval aviators. The squad “trains warriors and develops leaders,” according to its mission statement. The squad also prepares aviators for advanced training and produces officers ready to lead the Naval Aviation Team into the future.
Harrington left Lynn to study systems engineering at the United States Naval Academy. He graduated in 2003 and later went on to earn a master’s degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas. In 2005, he started his career assuming a naval aviator role at the Whiting Field station. Harrington completed initial fleet replacement training flying the SH-60B Seahawk, a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission helicopter in Mayport, Fla.
The next year, Harrington reported to his first sea tour with the “Swamp Foxes,” another helicopter squad based in Jacksonville, Fla. He deployed aboard the USS Underwood in 2007 to support naval security operations in the North Arabian Gulf and the USS Monterey in 2008 to support “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the official name the U.S. government uses to refer to its Global War on Terrorism.
Harrington joined the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Four One in San Diego, Calif. the next year. There, he served as an instructor pilot for three years.
He also served as the naval air training and operating procedures standardization officer, prescribing general flight instructions applicable to the operation of all US naval aircraft activity.
Harrington then served as the assistant navigator of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for a year before becoming the officer-in-charge aboard USS Normandy, a guided-missile cruiser armed with naval guns and other weapons.
From 2018 to 2020, Harrington served as the deputy director of training and education and a missile defense watch commander while assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command Joint Functional Component Command, one of 11 commands belonging to the Department of Defense.
During the July 8 ceremony, Lt. Col. Justin Wortendyke of the U.S. Marine Corps was also appointed the new executive officer of Training Squadron Six, or VT-6.
“Together with the experience of Wortendyke, Harrington will continue to advance the standard of excellence that has been synonymous with VT-6 throughout its 60-year history,” a press release from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service reads. “The diverse platform experience of these two seasoned fleet aviators is sure to benefit the students of VT-6 by providing new perspectives and diversity to the training of future naval aviators.”
Rachel Barber can be reached at [email protected].
