VX-23 Shipmates
RORKE, CAPTAIN Stephen C. "Chewy" Rorke http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/tester/8_04/local_news/21348-1.html "...January 23, 2003 - Captain Stephen C. Rorke will take command of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 from Marine Lt. Col. Joseph A. Mortensen Friday in a formal change-of-command ceremony at 2 p.m. in Hangar 115. When Mortensen took command of VX-23 in June 2001, he was the first Marine to do so in 18 years. Mortensen, a native of Albion, Neb., earned his commission in May 1980 through the NROTC program at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. His first tour of duty was communications officer of the 8th Communications Battalion, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was designated a Naval Aviator in March 1984 at NAS Meridian, Miss. and after flight school, Mortensen was trained as an F-4S Phantom pilot at Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 in Yuma, Ariz., and was assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, in June 1985. While with the "Red Devils," he was the ground training officer and line division officer. Leaving Hawaii in 1987, he attended the Tactical Air Control Party Course. He was then assigned to 3rd Light Armored Vehicle Battalion, Twentynine Palms, Calif., as the operations officer and air officer, until April 1988. Mortensen completed transition training to the F/A-18 at Fighter Attack Squadron 125 in Lemoore, Calif., then transferred in February 1989 to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531, El Toro, Calif. While assigned to the "Grey Ghosts" his duties were administrative officer and assistant operations officer. He made two Western Pacific deployments with the Grey Ghosts. After the Grey Ghosts were decommissioned Mortensen attended the U. S. Naval Test Pilot School here, graduating from TPS Class 104 in Dec. 1993. Mortensen then joined the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate where he was the lead T-45 test pilot, T-45 project coordinator, and F/A-18 test pilot. His testing included the T-45 Departure and Spin Evaluation, T-45 Cockpit Developmental Evaluation, F/A-18 Departure Demonstration Evaluation, and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Catapult Certification. During his tour, Mortensen received his master's of science degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee in December 1995. Mortensen joined the "Black Knights" of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 in December 1996 as the operations officer flying the F/A-18C. He deployed with the squadron, embarked in the USS Nimitz (CVN 68), to the Persian Gulf in 1997, flying missions supporting the United Nations no-fly zone over southern Iraq during Operation Southern Watch. After returning in 1998 from his around-the-world cruise aboard Nimitz, he was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11 as the administrative officer. Mortensen moved back to Patuxent River in June 1999, assigned as executive officer of the Marine Aviation Detachment. While XO of MAD, he also served as a flight instructor with TPS. In November 2000, Mortensen was transferred to Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron and was named chief test pilot. He assumed command of VX-23 in June 2001. Mortensen has over 3,200 hours of flight time in 35 different aircraft, over 2,000 of them in the F/A-18. He has been awarded a Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal Strike/Flight Award, three Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and was named by the Gray Ghost Squadron of the Marine Corps Aviation Association as the 1990 Aviator of the Year. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Marine Corps Aviation Association. Mortensen's next tour is schedule to be with the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan..." [14JUL2003]
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