Command Biographies

Tom "Squirl" Pearl, Technical Director, VX-31

Born in Chico, California, Mr. Tom "Squirl" Pearl graduated from Cuyama Valley High School in New Cuyama, California.  Four years of study at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo earned him a B.S. in mathematics. Pearl subsequently reported to Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida and was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy in the spring of 1967.  In 1968, Mr. Pearl earned his Navy wings in Kingsville, Texas  and spent the following year as a flight instructor for VT-2 and VT-10 in the Pensacola area. 

He then transferred to the Naval Air Station (today called the Marine Corps Air Station) Miramar, San Diego, flying the H and J models of the F-8 Crusader out of VF-124.  Upon completing the RAG in August of 1970, he was selected as a member of Detachment One of VFP-63 onboard the USS Hancock CVA-19 and flew reconnaissance missions in an RF-8G over North and South Vietnam.  Following this 12-month cruise, he returned to Miramar, where he flew through the summer and fall of 1971 before leaving the Navy in January of 1972.

The next ten years saw Mr. Pearl in San Diego North County, employed in a variety of positions.  He worked for three years in a Solana Beach restaurant and for two years each as a construction worker framing custom homes for local contractors, as a motorcycle mechanic on the national motocross circuit,  and as a full-time rock musician in nightclubs throughout San Diego County.

Mr. Pearl briefly lived on the east coast of Australia before returning to California and earning his California Teaching Credential from San Diego State University. He was offered a job teaching secondary math and science in Ridgecrest, California in the fall of 1983.

After four years of teaching at local junior and senior high schools, as well as at Cerro Coso Community College, Mr. Pearl accepted a position with the Department of Navy as a computer programmer for the A-6E Intruder Program Office at the Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Weapons Division (then called the Naval Weapons Center) China Lake, California.  Two years later, he became the lead systems engineer for that platform and, for the next four years, he led a team that delivered numerous programs to the Fleet.  Mr. Pearl then worked for the Advanced Systems Program Office for a year before being selected for the United States Navy Test Pilot School (USNTPS) in Patuxent River, Maryland as a civilian engineer.  After graduating with Class 108 from USNTPS in December of 1995, he reported to the AV-8B Joint Systems Support Activity as a project manager.  He later became the Test and Evaluation Director for the Harrier Program.  In June 2003, Mr. Pearl was selected to his current position as Technical Director for Air Test and Evaluation Squadron THREE ONE (VX-31).

An active local musician and motorcycle racing enthusiast, Mr. Pearl is also an elected trustee of the Sierra Sands Unified School District.  He is the recipient of several military service medals, including the Republic of Vietnam Campaign medal, the Vietnam Service medal, the National Defense medal, and five Air medals. 

Mr. Pearl was awarded the NAWC Deputy Commander’s Award for Research and Development in 1994 for his work with the A-6 Block 1A Upgrade and earned the title of Cerro Coso’s Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year in 1990.

He also received the coveted Michelson Lab Award in 2010 for exceptional management and personnel supervision.