Jeremy Vaughan

Commanding Officer, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake

Jeremy ‘JV’ Vaughan is a native of Las Vegas, Nevada. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in July 1993, graduating in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Vaughan earned a graduate degree with distinction from Naval Postgraduate School in Business Management, was designated a Naval Aviator in 1999, and is qualified as a Joint Specialty Officer. 

At sea, Vaughan served in squadrons and on ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets with deployed operations in the Atlantic, Pacific, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Western Pacific areas of operation. His sea assignments include Quality Assurance Officer HSM-48, Assistant Air Officer on the USS Nassau (LHA 4), and Maintenance Officer in HSM-51. Vaughan commanded HSM-70 which deployed with the USS George H W Bush (CVN 77) Strike Group and most recently served as the Operations Officer for USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78).

His assignments ashore include instructor pilot at the HSM-40 Fleet Replacement Squadron where he was awarded the National Helicopter Association (Region 3) Instructor of the Year and was honored with the 2005 Navy and Marine Association peer-selected leadership award. Vaughan served as the Flag Aide to the Africa Command Deputy Commander and as Federal Executive Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. Vaughan’s last staff tour was in the new Warfighting Development directorate (N7) on the Navy staff. Most recently, he served as the longest serving Installation Commanding Officer in China Lake history. He now serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division where he is accelerating efforts to ensure our warfighters are ready for potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific.