Big Picture: Top Gun

Navy pilot Scott "Junk" Bonz '89, who was named Commander Naval Air Forces 2003 Pacific Pilot of the Year, demonstrates his tactical expertise in a F/A-18 Hornet over the USS Nimitz near San Diego. The Vermont native was deployed to the Persian Gulf from March to November 2003, flying air support missions near Baghdad with the VFA-94 squadron known as the Mighty Shrikes. "I wouldn't say that it was frighten- ing or terrifying, or that the flying was particularly challenging," he says. "We were very well prepared for what we were doing, only with 200 percent more adrenaline." For more on Bonz go to page 78