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NEWS YOU CAN USE

ARMY 10-MILER More than 80 MOAA members ran in the Army Ten-Miler Oct. 12, 2014, in the Washing- ton, D.C., area — and the association unveiled at the race expo a 2014 Harley-Davidson FXDL Low Rider that one

lucky MOAA mem- ber will win through a sweepstakes campaign. MOAA runners en-

F-35C Makes Carrier Landing

T

he Navy made aviation his- tory Nov. 3, 2014, as an F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Joint

Strike Fighter conducted its first arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier off the coast of San Diego. Navy test pilot Cmdr. Tony Wilson

landed F-35C test aircraft CF-03 at 12:18 p.m. aboard the flight deck of USS Nimitz (CVN-68). Navy Vice Adm. David H. Buss, com-

mander, Naval Air Forces, witnessed the event. “This important milestone is yet another indicator of naval aviation’s ongo- ing evolution to meet future threats and

remain central to our future Navy and na- tional defense strategy,” he said. Developmental Testing I is the first of

three at-sea test phases planned for the F-35C. The aircraft perform a variety of operational maneuvers and general main- tenance and fit tests for the aircraft and support equipment, as well as simulated maintenance operations. As with the initial testing of any new

aircraft, the goal is to collect environmen- tal data to measure the F-35C’s integration to flight deck operations and to further define the F-35C’s operating parameters aboard an aircraft carrier.

*online: Access past issues at www.moaa.org/moarchive. PHOTOS: ABOVE, ALEXANDER H. GROVES/LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP.; RIGHT, JIM PARTAIN JANUARY 2015 MILITARY OFFICER 25

joyed a pre-race pasta dinner the night before the race and took advan- tage of race-day freebies. In addition to support- ing runners, MOAA drew in approximately 200 new members.

ESSAY RESULTS The winner of MOAA’s 2014 military profes- sional essay contest and the $1,000 grand prize is Capt. David N. Miller, USAF (Ret), who penned “A Reflection on Salutes.” Second-place and

third-place winners were Margo Phipps Meyers and Capt. Colin B. Marcum, USA, re- spectively. Read all three essays in the November 2014 issue*.