Steve Endacott speaks to now-retired Navy Capt. Leif Steinbaugh, who completed his Naval Air Station change of command ceremony in 2016.
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The Churchill County Museum will hold its annual free Spring Lecture Series on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. beginning March 18 with “Wheels …” a theme featuring the connections between people, transportation and history.
The premiere speaker, retired Navy Cmdr. Steven M. Endacott, will lecture on “The Magic of Flight: From the Wright Brothers Flyer to modern day jet fighter aircraft, what makes them fly?”
After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering, newly commissioned ensign became a naval aviator, flying the A-4 Skyhawk, A-7 Corsair, F-5 Tiger, F/A-18 Hornet, H-3 Sea King helicopter and several other aircraft.
Over the course of his career, Endacott served as a weapons test pilot, a carrier task force strike operations officer, an air wing strike leader, an instructor and Tactics Department leader for the Naval Strike Warfare Center in Fallon and commanding officer of a Strike Fighter (F/A-18) Squadron.
Following his retirement, Endacott built a career as a test and training consultant, contributing to several high-impact civilian and military projects. His work included serving as Flight Test Designer for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-sponsored Free Space Optical Network Experiment, a $43 million airborne laser communication demonstration; program director for the Surrogate Unmanned Aerial Systems Training Program, a decade-long initiative supporting 70 major military exercises with surrogate Predator drones and multiple Department of Defense customers; and principal analyst for both the Navy’s Conventional Ordnance Performance Evaluation program and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Test & Evaluation Joint Test Force.
Endacott serves as the emergency manager for the city of Fallon, belongs to the Fallon Rotary Club and acts as the charter representative for Boy Scout Troop 1776. He has been married for 38 years to retired Navy Cmdr. Dana D. Endacott, a former U.S. Navy C-130 Hercules pilot. They have two adult children, Ariel and Erik.
All lectures in the series are free to the public and light refreshments will be served. The Churchill County Museum is located at 1050 S. Maine St.
For information contact Education Curator Jennifer Jones at 775-423-3677, ext. 1224 or email jennifer.jones@churchillcountynv.gov.