Capt. Michael LoGrande always wanted to fly for the Marine Corps. Even after being medically disqualified to be a pilot, he didn't see it as the end of the road but the beginning of a new one.
He learned about a position called a weapons systems officer, or "wizzo" -- a flight officer who sits behind the pilot in a two-seater jet and is responsible for the aircraft's communications, weapons and navigation.
He had never heard of the job before being denied the pilot's seat but was excited to learn it could put him right in the cockpit -- specifically, the aft seat of an F/A-18D Hornet. There, he would still be part of the tightknit Marine Corps aviation community, which "completely sold" him on the wizzo role, he told Military.com last week.
Now, he is the very last person to graduate the weapons systems officer course, effectively becoming the Marine Corps' last wizzo.
"The Hornet that started out in 1983 is definitely not the Hornet that we're flying today," LoGrande said of his aircraft, which has seen many changes over the last 40 years. "I feel really lucky to have been part of that legacy."
That legacy is ending, as the Marine Corps transitions from the F/A-18 to the new, fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II over the next six years. It is just one of many changes as the service undergoes its Force Design metamorphosis -- shedding tanks, artillery and legacy aircraft, among other structural shifts.
The F/A-18 has been a workhorse since its introduction to the Corps decades ago. In 2022, the aircraft still constituted more than 50% of the Marine Corps' tactical air capabilities. It is used as both a "fighter" and "attack" platform, meaning that it contributes to air defense but can also be used for interdiction, close- and deep-air support.
With more than a dozen possible armaments and multiple sensors, battle-tested over decades, the Hornet's legacy cannot be denied, and it has been an important cushion for the service as it fully transitions to the new Joint Strike Fighter.
"Hornet's wide breadth of weapons, advanced LITENING targeting pod, network interoperability, and upgraded electronic warfare systems highlights the platform's continued relevant, lethal and survivable capability to" Marines and combatant commanders, according to the Corps' 2022 Aviation Plan, which also outlines its divestment timeline. The plan calls the Hornet a bridging platform that is "critical for successful" transition to the F-35.
The decision to divest the Hornet appears to be motivated in part by the increased maintenance burden for the "aging platform," according to the plan. The F/A-18D is no longer in production -- it was last made in 2000, according to the Navy. For more than 20 years, maintainers have been focused on "solving chronic material shortfalls" in the aircraft.
The Corps has been deactivating F/A-18 squadrons slowly over the last several years. One of the latest deactivations was the casing last year of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101, a storied and historic unit that had trained generations of pilots since the late 1960s.
"Pilots come to VMFAT-101, cut their teeth, and are transformed into aviation warriors," Col. William Mitchell, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said at the time.
The platform is still at the forefront for Marine Corps tactical air operations around the world. For example, Marine F-18s flew sorties in Finland this month, right on Russia's doorstep, during Operation Nordic Response 2024, part of the largest NATO exercise since the 1980s and a message to Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. F-18s have also been active in the Indo-Pacific region, conducting exercises with U.S. allies there.
In other words, "it's still got life in it," LoGrande said.
"I first found out they were getting phased out when they told me that I was going to be a wizzo," he said. "It might be going away, [but] it never really feels like it's going away … the way the weapon system is alway being integrated into every single war game and every single exercise.
"Someone's got to carry the weapons," he said. "And that's us."
The Marine Corps' F/A-18 will officially "sundown" in 2030.
Its pilots and wizzos have been linked through combat and training for decades and, according to LoGrande, make up one cohesive fighter community.
"There isn't really a difference between the wizzo community and the pilot community," he said. "It's all just the fighter community. … Everyone is working toward one thing. It's a community of people who want to fly and want to be the best at their weapons system."
Together, he said they make up one brain in the aircraft, managing technical interfaces and communicating in tandem to maneuver through the air. For wizzos like LoGrande, that includes navigating the aircraft and communicating with different controlling agencies to make sure the jet is operating within legal and deconflicted limits of the airspace.
LoGrande participated in his final qualifying flight in the Hornet this week. It was the culmination of more than two years of training, including a long syllabus in the schoolhouse that is Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, based out of Miramar, California.
There, he learned flight planning, air-to-air refueling, radar use and how to employ precision-guided munitions, among other technical skills that come with operating a multimillion-dollar aircraft.
Soon, he will hit the fleet and become part of the operational side of the Hornet community. Even as the aircraft divests, LoGrande said there are many opportunities for wizzos to stay in the force, including ground jobs, though he said he'd like to try his hand at becoming a pilot.
"The flight was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of Marines to execute the sortie with," he said of his final flight. "While I am super happy to have completed the … syllabus, I will be sad to leave the friends and squadron that I have come to love. However, I am extremely excited to get out to the fleet and be a part of a new squadron."
Related: Check Out the F/A-18C/D Hornet
