Peabody native U.S. Navy Lt. J.G. Emily R. Bellavance earned her “Wings of Gold” at a June 28 ceremony at the Naval Air Station in Milton, FL, according to a press release.
She is the daughter of Curt and Mary Bellovance and graduated from Peabody Veterans Memorial High School in 2017, from the United States Naval Academy in 2021, and received her commission as an ensign in May 2021, the release stated.
Bellavance was selected for Navy pilot training and began flight school called Naval
Introductory Flight Evaluation in Pensacola, Florida. She was then assigned to primary flight training Squadron VT-27 in Corpus Christi, TX, according to the release.
She learned to fly the Navy’s primary fixed wing trainer, the Beech T-6B Texan II, the release stated.
Bellavance was later selected for eight months of “advanced helicopter training” on the
new TH-73A Thrasher helicopter with Squadron HT-8 in Milton, FL, according to the release.
The TH-73A Thrasher helicopter first delivered in July 2021, just one month after Bellavance received her commission as an ensign, according to the Navy’s website.
She was awarded the “Wings of Gold” and earned the designation as a naval aviator after the “successful completion of basic maneuvers, tactics, instruments, low-level navigation, formation flight, night familiarization, and shipboard landing,” the release stated.
Bellavance will transfer to Naval Air Station Mayport in Mayport, FL, and will be assigned to HSM-40 Airwolves, a fleet replacement squadron, according to the release.
She will begin training on the MH-60R Seahawk, “an aircraft designed for combat search and rescue, special warfare support, vertical replenishment, and airborne mine countermeasures,” the release stated.
