Undergraduate Naval Flight Officer Training Air Wing Holds A Change Of Command Ceremony

Training Air Wing 6 held a change of command ceremony on August 5th at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Capt. Kenneth “Muscle” Russel relieved Capt. Scott “Mongo” Janik as TW-6 commodore, the Navy’s singular undergraduate NFO training air wing.

“I am excited to hand the reins of Training Wing 6 over to Capt. Ken “Muscle” Russell,” Janik said. “It has been an honor to serve all the warriors of TW-6 as the commodore for the past three years. We have been through a dizzying time with hurricanes, a pandemic, and a variety of other challenges that we had to overcome to accomplish our mission. I was constantly amazed at the energy, resilience, and efforts of each individual as we faced these challenges and continued to produce outstanding naval flight officers for the United States and our partner nations. Thank you all for your hard work and giving me the ride of a lifetime!”

Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff led the ceremony and rewarded Janik with the Legion of Merit.

“Capt. Janik has made such a huge impact on the future of Naval Aviation,” Westendorff said. “The pace of operations has been incredible and under his stellar leadership, we graduated more than 770 naval flight officers. He led the team to success and now those men and women are ready to answer the nation’s call to protect our country and its interests. Thank you, Mongo, for the tireless enthusiasm you bring to the table every day and for all you’ve done for Training Air Wing 6.”

Janik will continue his service to the Navy as director of the Naval School of Aviation Safety at NAS Pensacola. Janik led his team to complete more than 48,000 sorties, 55,000 flight hours, and 81,000 simulator hours.

Russell has amassed more than 4,000 operational flight hours over five flying tours and recently served as branch chief for C4I Airborne Platforms (J613) and division chief for Command Centers Division (J36) at U.S. Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt AFB in Nebraska.

FMI: https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/tw6/