| BIOGRAPHY : Commander Bruce W. Fecht, is a native of Missoula,
Montana and received a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington.
He was commissioned in 1982 after completion of Aviation Officer Candidate School in
Pensacola, Florida, and was designated a Naval Aviator at Beeville, Texas in April 1983.
Following his winging, he reported to the VF-124 Gunslingers at Miramar Naval Air Station
in San Diego, California, for fleet replacement training in the F-14A Tomcat. In October
1984, CDR Fecht reported to the VF-111 Sundowners for his first fleet assignment where he
completed two deployments on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). While there he accumulated over
1,000 flight hours in the F-14 Tomcat and completed over 300
carrier-arrested landings.
In November 1987, he reported to the VF-126 Bandits and served as fleet adversary pilot,
flying the T-2 Buckeye, A-4 Skyhawk, and F-16N Viper aircraft. During this tour, he
graduated from the TopGun adversary course and accumulated over 1,200 flight hours as an
adversary pilot and spin instructor, including over 500 hours in the F-16N. He also earned
his Master of Science Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern
California at Los Angeles.
CDR Fecht reported to the VF-1 Wolfpack in July 1991, where he completed one deployment
aboard the USS Ranger (CV-61). Upon decommissioning of VF-1 in July 1993, he transferred
to the VF-31 Tomcatters for a consecutive sea-duty tour, and began to fly the newly
introduced F-14D Super Tomcat. He served as the Maintenance Officer during his time with
the Tomcatters and accumulated a total of over 2,600 flight hours in the F-14.
In February 1996, he reported to Headquarters, U.S. European Command in Stuttgart,
Germany, for duty as the Political-Military Officer in the J5 Directorate, Middle
East/Africa Division. As the Israel/Lebanon/Syria desk officer he was twice assigned to a
Joint Task Force in response to real-world contingency operations. Following his joint
duty tour, he reported to the VF-101 Grim Reapers for refresher training in the F-14A
Tomcat. On December 10th, 1999, he joined the VF-14 Tophatters as
Executive Officer.
CDR Fecht has accumulated over 4,100 flight hours in various Naval aircraft and over 650
carrier landings in the F-14 Tomcat. His personal decorations include the Defense
Meritorious Service Medal, Strike/Flight Air Medal, Joint Commendation Medal (two awards),
Navy Achievement Medal (two awards) and numerous other campaign and service awards.
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