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Executive Officer
Helicopter Maritime Strike Weapon School Atlantic
HSMWSL Menu

Executive Officer
Cmdr. Ryan J. Brack



 

 
Cmdr. Ryan J. Brack is a native of Salina, Kansas. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas and an ROTC commission as a “Jayhawk” in 2007. In 2009, he was designated a naval aviator and pinned on his “Wings of Gold” following fixed and rotary-wing training at VT-6 and HT-18 in Milton, Florida.
 
At sea, Brack deployed as a first-tour pilot flying the SH-60B Seahawk, completing four 7th Fleet deployments and participating in 14 joint and multi-national exercises and operations while assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 51, a forward deployed naval force based in Atsugi, Japan.  During his tour as a “Warlord” from March 2010 to April 2013, Brack was assigned as a detachment admin officer, operations officer, and maintenance officer aboard the USS McCampbell (DDG 85), the USS Shiloh (CG 67), the USS Ford (FFG 54), and the USS Lassen (DDG 82), while supporting both the George Washington and Carl Vinson Strike Groups. As the quality assurance officer, Brack oversaw the stand up of MH-60R maintenance programs in support of the squadron’s transition from HSL-51 to HSM-51.
 
Ashore, Brack transitioned to the MH-60R in 2013 then became an instructor pilot at the fleet replacement squadron, HSM-41, in San Diego, California, prior to getting accepted to the United States Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, in 2014.  He graduated from USN Test Pilot School in June 2015 (Class 147) then completed his follow-on test tour with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21.  As a project officer at HX-21, Brack completed multiple dynamic interface (wind envelope) tests for both the U.S. and Royal Australian Navies.  Additionally, he was the Denmark Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Australia FMS, acoustics, and simulator project officer before becoming the H-60 platform coordinator at the end of his test tour.
 
Returning back to the fleet as a department head at HSM-37 in Kaneohe, Hawaii, from April 2018 to January 2021, Brack served as a detachment officer-in-charge in support of 3rd Fleet exercises on the USS Halsey (DDG 97) and 7th Fleet tasking on the USS Preble (DDG 88), while also operating with the John C. Stennis Strike Group.  Brack also served as the “Easyrider” training officer, safety officer, and operations officer before receiving orders back to USN Test Pilot School as a rotary-wing flight test instructor from January 2021 to November 2022.  He finished this second tour at TPS as the senior rotary-wing instructor.
 
Brack is authorized to wear the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards) and multiple joint and unit awards.  He has flown 33 different fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, while accumulating over 2,500 flight hours. He is currently assigned as the executive officer of Helicopter Maritime Strike Weapons School, Atlantic in Jacksonville, Florida, where he is responsible for advanced tactical training for Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) squadrons.  

 
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