Courtesy Photo | Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Watkins, mass communication specialist, combat...... read more read more
Subscribe
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — By vocation, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Watkins, mass communication specialist, combat cameraman with Joint Task Force Guantanamo, sees the world through a photographer's lens. It's his avocation that lets him look at the world from several thousand feet in the air, through the windscreen of an aircraft.
"As a kid, I was fascinated with flying and was constantly looking up to the sky," Watkins said. "Planes and basically anything with a lot of buttons on it is what called my attention as a kid."
It's that extreme hobby that gives Watkins his 15 minutes of fame.
Watkins, attached to Combat Camera Group Pacific, is a legacy photographer's mate deployed to Joint Task Force Guantanamo. While he has earned the praises of his peers for his excellent photography skills, it's his instrument rated private pilot's license and the more than 400 flight hours that keeps him focused. When he is at his homeport in San Diego, Watkins spends his leisure time flying his plane.
"Piloting an aircraft gives you a sense of freedom that you don't get from everyday life," Watkins said. "In fact, it's the ultimate freedom. Pilots don't take that freedom for granted."
Watkins began his quest to fly in 1996 when, at 18, he acquired a student pilot's license in his home state of Washington. In 1997, he was flying solo after earning his private pilot's license. By the time he was 20, he was already an instrument rated private pilot.
Later in his career in 2007, after returning from a deployment in Iraq, Watkins decided to treat himself by purchasing the plane he had been renting for more than eight years — a red and white 1969 Piper Cherokee-140 fixed wing aircraft. Since that time, he has flown from San Diego to scenic places such as Big Bear, Catalina Island and all over Washington State.
When at his homeport duty station, Watkins is the lead petty officer for combat cameras training department. He is regarded as a professional by many people with whom he's worked.
"He is one of the most passionate photography training petty officers I know," said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Hayes, mass communication specialist, a fellow combat camera photographer with JTF Guantanamo. "The times I've worked with him have been very positive."
His duties as training petty officer translate perfectly to his future plan to become a flight instructor.
"He could easily become a flight instructor because he has both the experience as an instructor and as a pilot," Hayes said.
According to Watkins, flying an aircraft is different from driving an automobile where the driver can only make singular turns at a given moment while driving in a single direction. Piloting an aircraft on the other hand, provides the pilot with a third dimension in handling.
"Being able to decrease an aircraft's altitude and make a turn simultaneously, or to tip the wing as the aircraft's altitude increases are examples of factors in handling that yield a third dimension," Watkins said.
Many people believe piloting an aircraft is complicated but Watkins thinks otherwise.
"Flying a plane is easy, land navigation is easy and communications is easy," Watkins said. "It is kind of like juggling three balls. You have to manage all three at the same time."
Contrary to popular belief, you don't necessarily have to be wealthy to be able to fly planes or even own one.
"I bought my Cherokee for $25,000 and invested around $17,000 more in avionics upgrades," Watkins said. "That's not much different from buying an expensive car if you think about it."
Not long after departing Guantanamo, Watkins plans on finishing up his commercial pilot's license certification.
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2010 13:36 |
| Story ID: | 47703 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 239 |
| Downloads: | 218 |
This work, Flying: a photographer's dream, by Marcos Hernandez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
