CHINA LAKE, Calif. – Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 is proud to announce that HM2 Benjamin Hernandez was personally selected to join the Blue Angels’ team. He will detach from VX-31 October 2011 and become part of the Navy’s elite military demonstration team November 2011.

The Blue Angels are internationally recognized as the face of the U.S. Navy. According to the Blue Angels’ official website, a total of 16 officers voluntarily serve with the Blue Angels. Each year the team typically selects three tactical (fighter or fighter/attack) jet pilots, two support officers and one Marine Corps C-130 pilot to relieve departing members. The Chief of Naval Air Training selects the Blue Angels commanding officer that flies the Number 1 jet.

Career-oriented officers specializing in maintenance, administration, aviation medicine, public affairs and supply fill support positions. The Blue Angels base their selection of officers on professional ability, military bearing and communication skills. Blue Angels officers are well-rounded representatives of their fleet counterparts. Based on his stellar naval career, Hernandez was hand-picked to work with the Blue Angels aviation medical officer.

In February 2009, when Hernandez checked in to VX-31 as a search and rescue (SAR) medical technician, he immediately assumed a leadership role as assistant helicopter inland rescue aircrew (HIRA). He supervises an aircrew team of 14. Due to his strong work ethic and military bearing, he was named VX-31 Junior Sailor of the Year for 2009. His persona and demeanor is that of a seasoned medic and his exceptional emergency medical skills were specifically noted by the CNO SAR Model Manager inspection team during the squadron’s 2011 SAR evaluation. Dedicated to saving lives, he donated bone marrow to a 17-year-old boy diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September 2009.

Hernandez’s love of the Navy has roots in his family history – his grandfather was a Seabee in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. His uncle and two older brothers currently serve in the Navy.

“I’ve always loved the Navy," Hernandez said. "My grandfather told me about an incident during the Korean conflict – the ship he served on came under fire. He ran across the deck to get more ammunition for the deck guns, dodging bullets that whizzed by him as he ran back with the rounds.”

As a teenager growing up in Murray, Utah, Hernandez worked “on the job” at the local fire department. After graduating from high school, he followed his passion in the emergency medical technician field and enlisted in the Navy as a corpsman. His first duty station was with the Marines at MCHB Kaneohe, Hawaii.

VX-31 provides emergency medical services for both military and civilian personnel for the entire range, Death Valley, and the Sierra and Coso Mountain Ranges. Hernandez personally participated in 12 SAR missions and provided emergency medical care to many injured military and civilian personnel. In January 2010, Hernandez helped rescue four civilians from a canyon in Death Valley National Park.

“We had to ‘drop down’ into the canyon and recover them," Hernandez said. "It took us about 45 minutes to pick up three men and one woman. They’d gone hiking on a trail they read about in a magazine, took the wrong route out and got stuck for about three days. Luckily, they were in a canyon that actually had a waterfall. With their water purifying system, they were able to capture water, and they had food and shelter.”

Hernandez rappelled down about 150 feet, the equivalent of a fifteen-story building, got the first two out and then, using the rescue basket that looks like a large cargo net, lifted the other two out. After the hikers were safely aboard, Hernandez was hoisted out.

“It’s been very rewarding to me to be able to save lives and help civilians," Hernandez said. "Discipline and culture in the Navy helped me improve as a person. It helped shape who I am today.”