By Ashley Craig, Navy Office of Community Outreach
Every sailor’s story of naval service is unique. For Airman Diego Pena Collado, this story has ties to Cooper City, Florida, where skills and values learned there are foundational to success in the Navy.
“I learned how to work hard and stay consistent,” Pena Collado said. “It helps me work toward what I need to do here and helps me stay on top of myself to get the job done.”
Pena Collado graduated from Cooper City High School in 2025 and joined the Navy one year ago.
“I joined because it’s been something I wanted to do for a while,” Pena Collado said. “The Navy had the coolest planes, and they got me in right away. They took me in the same day.”
Today, Pena Collado serves as an aviation electrician’s mate assigned to Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center – TOP GUN aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon.
The Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC) provides comprehensive support to U.S. Navy aircrews, squadrons, and air wings through advanced flight training, academic instruction, and direct operational and intelligence assistance. Responsible for six Unit Identification Codes (UICs), the command comprises 211 officers, 418 enlisted members, 50 civilians, and more than 100 contractors. The unit operates and maintains a diverse tactical fleet, including FA-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, F-16 Fighting Falcons, MH-60S Seahawk helicopters and E-2D Hawkeyes.
Beyond its primary training mission, NAWDC serves as a vital tactical resource for strike group, fleet, and combatant commanders. As a designated Warfighting Development Center (WDC), the command assesses combat effectiveness, identifies and mitigates capability gaps across all platforms, and collaborates with other WDCs to ensure seamless cross-platform integration and strategic alignment throughout the Navy.
NAWDC serves as the Navy’s primary authority for air combat training and tactical innovation. The center provides advanced instruction in tactics, techniques, and procedures across all mission areas, ensuring a consistent training continuum from the individual to the joint force level. By establishing and enforcing rigorous combat proficiency standards, NAWDC continuously develops, validates, and standardizes the fleet’s official tactical doctrine.
NAWDC ensures naval aviation excellence through rigorous training and lethal capability to prevail in the high-end fight.
Carrier strike groups and the embarked aviation squadrons are the cornerstone of U.S. naval power projection and sea power. They can quickly maneuver thousands of miles with the world’s most capable warships and top-notch sailors, remaining on station in areas of interest without relying on land bases or overflight agreements. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers are the most adaptable, lethal and survivable airfields in the world and their presence serves as the most credible commitment to our allies and partners.
Naval aviation provides the Navy and our nation with a flexible, adaptable, and lethal force to preserve peace, respond in crises, and win decisively in combat. The U.S. Navy maintains and operates more than 2,000 aircraft to fulfill various mission sets in order to preserve the American way of life and ensure freedom, security and prosperity.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and internet access relying on the security of undersea fiber-optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
Pena Collado has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.
“I’m most proud of completing a move successfully on a jet with no brakes,” Pena Collado said. “It was my first time moving a jet with no brakes, and everyone said it was a really impressive thing. It doesn’t happen often. I’m proud I was able to help stop it.”
Pena Collado serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“Serving in the Navy is a great opportunity to grow and have a purpose,” Pena Collado said.
Pena Collado is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my family for always being there to support me,” Pena Collado said.
