Photo By Ryan Smith | Russell Gordon, branch Head of Advanced Systems Integration Test & Evaluation, right,...... read more read more
Worcester, Massachusetts, 1974
The glasses slipped down 9-year-old Russell Gordon's nose.
"Since fourth grade, I knew I would never be an aviator," Gordon recalled. "But I did have a shot at being a naval flight officer."
Naval flight officers operate weapons systems, sensors and electronic warfare equipment from the cockpit. They don't fly the aircraft, but they direct the tactical operations.
In the early 1980s, Gordon attended Worcester State College with Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He earned a flight school contract and reported to Pensacola for naval flight officer training in 1986. Injuries during training led to medical disqualification.
Then came Plan C.
"One of the officers I worked for there actually secured a spot for me in the Aerospace Maintenance Duty Officer training class," Gordon said. "That provided me with an opportunity to stay in aviation."
Forty years later, on Sept. 25, 2025, Gordon celebrated 35 years of federal service at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
"From the day I was born, I always wanted to be in the military," Gordon said. "Getting to play with airplanes as a grown-up has always been pretty cool."
Painted for Combat
Twenty years of naval service. Thousands of memories. Ask Russell Gordon for his favorite, and he closes his eyes.
He sees paint. Three colors of it.
Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, 1991. Gordon served as maintenance officer for Fighter Squadron (VF-74), the Be-Devilers, keeping their F-14 Tomcats combat-ready.
Then came the news: The squadron wouldn't deploy. Budget cuts. Force restructuring. Most squadrons would see this as the end of the line.
Gordon's squadron saw opportunity.
"We took our airplanes and obtained permission to paint them in three-color camouflage," Gordon remembered.
They became the enemy.
Nellis Air Force Base. Puerto Rico. Wherever Navy squadrons needed adversary reps before deployment, the Be-Devilers showed up. Painted for war. Ready to fight.
"We spent that last year on the road providing adversary services for air wings and squadrons. We had a blast."
The squadron would disestablish in 1994. But that final year? That belonged to them.
Desert Roots and New Beginnings
July 1994: Gordon reported to the Aircraft Department at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
"I was dragged out here, kicking and screaming," Gordon recalled.
No formal squadron existed yet. During his tour, they established Naval Weapons Test Squadron China Lake. The future Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31, the Dust Devils.
He met his future wife there, a China Lake native rooted in the desert community. They married during his tour.
VX-31 would grow from those roots Gordon helped plant.
Today, the Dust Devils test the Navy's most advanced weapons and systems. The squadron he helped establish now shapes the future of naval aviation at NAWCWD.
42 to Zero
When orders came for Lemoore in September 1997, his wife stayed in China Lake. Gordon became a geographic bachelor, coming home on weekends for the next nine years.
Strike Fighter Squadron 94 welcomed Gordon. The Mighty Shrikes flew F/A-18 Hornets. He spent two years keeping the Navy's workhorse fighter mission-ready.
In October 1999, he transferred to Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment.
Gordon commanded 800 personnel. Military, civilians and contractors with a $145 million budget.
On the hangar floor, he counted 42 F/A-18s. They sat silent. Bare firewalls. Aircraft reduced to bare metal frames where engines should be. Each jet cost $30 million. Each jet with zero capability.
And the fleet needed those jets flying. Yesterday.
He decided he wasn't going to let the system set the pace. Gordon picked up the phone and called Boeing. He pushed to bring a factory-style flow to fleet maintenance for the first time.
Boeing taught lean manufacturing. Gordon's team learned, then applied it. Factory efficiency met military precision.
Six months later, history.
"We transitioned from 42 bare firewalls to zero, plus spare engines in the shop, in less than six months," Gordon said. "First time with a positive inventory in a decade."
"It had an immediate impact on the fleet," Gordon explained. "Those are the fleet warfighters sitting on the flight line."
Which meant combat-ready jets for combat pilots.
Last Guardian of the Shamrocks
March 2002. Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
Sea Control Squadron (VS-41) was counting down its final days. The Shamrocks had 46 years of training every S-3B Viking crew in the Navy. The Cold War had ended. Anti-submarine warfare priorities had shifted.
Gordon became the squadron's last maintenance officer.
He formulated a plan that cut aircraft build time by 38 percent. He consolidated two modification sites into one. He saved $20,000 per aircraft through his Post-Integrated Maintenance Concept.
Every Viking crew still needed training until the end. Every aircraft still flew.
In 2006, the S-3B Viking's mission was over.
"That squadron disestablished and S-3s went away," Gordon said. "So maybe I'm a jinx."
Commander Gordon retired from the Navy in December 2006.
Retirement lasted exactly one day. How?
Well, his final active-duty months brought him to China Lake on temporary assignment. At a Fleet and Family Support Center presentation, opportunity knocked.
"The lady there at the time asked me if I was looking for a job," Gordon recalled. "She connected me with one of the contractors."
One contractor needed experience. One officer needed a next chapter. They found each other.
January 2007: Russell Gordon reported to work at China Lake as a contractor with Systems Application and Technologies.
"I started working the day after I retired," Gordon said.
Range to AMRAAM
Gordon spent four years as a Weapons Survivability Lab contractor.
Then in 2011, China Lake Ranges needed a lead scheduler.
"My task was to safely transport as many customers as possible onto the range to complete their missions," Gordon explained. "Balancing resources, requirements and priorities."
By 2013, Gordon became test manager. The single point of entry for customers into the range. Understanding requirements. Matching resources. Getting programs the data they needed.
F-35s flew over the range. Gordon managed the tests, conducted weapons releases and watched America's newest fighter evolve.
In 2016, the AMRAAM Technical Project Office came calling. They needed someone who understood F-35 integration. Gordon had been conducting weapons releases for years.
"It was a fascinating way to become more involved with the F-35 and understand its capabilities," Gordon said. "While also helping to prepare the F-35 for the warfighter."
Direct warfighter impact. Making sure America's newest fighter jet was ready to fight and win.
Launching the Next Generation
In 2021, Gordon became branch head for Unmanned Aerial Systems and Tactical Aircraft Test and Evaluation.
Administrative work, he called it. His real mission was getting young engineers ready for anything.
College graduates arrived as Engineers and Scientists Development Program participants. First real jobs. Uncertain futures.
Gordon guided them through it.
"To be a part of their development and ensure they're getting the opportunities they need is rewarding," Gordon explained.
One young engineer just got selected for Navy Test Pilot School. She leaves this December for January classes. Another career launched.
"It's pretty cool when you see people you've helped develop become successful," Gordon said. "I love being able to help others get those opportunities."
But mentoring isn't Gordon's only mission.
Since 2023, he's been pushing the delivery of Block 3 Super Hornets to Kuwait. The variant's first foreign customer.
"This is a big deal," Gordon said. "We have got to get these F/A-18s delivered to Kuwait."
The Civilian Challenge
Military command is straightforward. Orders given. Orders followed.
Civilian leadership meant learning a new language. It is no longer a one-size-fits-all approach.
"There's far more difference in the workforce in the civilian world," Gordon observed. "You need to understand how to reach different types of people to get them engaged."
An officer taught him early: Two types of respect exist. The kind that comes with the rank on your collar, and the kind you earn.
"I've worked hard at it," Gordon explained. "You have to put a lot more thought as a civilian into how you're going to present an idea and how you're going to get buy-in than as a military officer."
In August, Gordon was part of the first cohort to graduate from the Leadership EDGE program at NAWCWD.
The Boy Who Couldn't Fly
The boy with glasses who couldn't be a pilot became the one who kept them flying.
Forty years after Pensacola, Gordon has logged flight time in 10 different Navy aircraft: F-14 Tomcats, F/A-18 Hornets, S-3B Vikings.
As a civilian, Gordon earned his private pilot license and SCUBA instructor certification.
VX-31, the squadron he helped establish, shapes tomorrow's weapons testing. The engineers he mentors design future capabilities. The maintenance practices he pioneered keep the fleet flying.
"It's never felt like work," Gordon said. "I've had opportunities that most people only dream of."
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2025 12:50 |
| Story ID: | 551380 |
| Location: | CHINA LAKE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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