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Dean(o) “Speedolips” Koehler will talk about his Navy flying experiences, carrier flight ops, and hopes for a lot of Q&A. He will touch on his Alaska Air flying time if time permits.

Dean spent 26 years with the US Navy from 1976 to 2002, retiring as a Captain- O-6. He has flown T28B, T2C, TA4F/J, A7E, A4F, F/A18A/B, P3A, C9B, C130T and C20G and has 329 arrested landings (100 night) primarily on the USS Kittyhawk with the remainder on Ranger and Lexington.

At NAS Lemoore, CA, He served with VA22, and VA127, which was the West Coast aggressor squadron, where he flew at Top Gun as a "bad guy" in 1982. During that tour he also flew the Legacy Hornet during its Operational Evaluation at VX5 / China Lake.

In USNR duty, he briefly flew the P3A Orion out of Whidbey Island before escaping back to Light Attack in1985, flying first with VA1287 and then VA304 out of NAS Alameda. As 304 transitioned to the A6E from the A7E, he fled to VR55 down the ramp. In that C9B Skytrain II squadron he was recalled to active duty for Operations Desert Shield and Storm. He later served as XO and CO of the squadron, declining further orders as Deputy Wing Commander.