Commanding Officer
Cmdr. Lane Drummond
Cmdr. Lane “Sprinkles” Drummond is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland. After enlisting in November 2000 he was appointed to and commissioned from the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science Mechanical Engineering.
Winged as a Naval Aviator in Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, Texas on November 30, 2007, Drummond then completed P-3C flight training at Patrol Squadron (VP) 30 in Jacksonville, Florida. His first operational tour was with VP-40 in Whidbey Island, Washington where he deployed to the 5th, 6th, and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility (AOR).
In January 2012, Drummond joined VP-30 as a P-3C instructor pilot. While there, he served as aviation safety officer, pilot schedules officer, Fleet Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) evaluator, Fleet instructor under training instructor, Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) instructor under training instructor, and P-3C NATOPS Fleet Model manager.
Drummond then served as assistant navigator onboard USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75), Norfolk, Virginia, and completed a deployment in the 5th Fleet AOR supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
He was selected for department head and joined the ranks of the “Screaming Eagles” of VP-1 where he served as the safety/NATOPS officer, training officer, operations officer, and maintenance officer. He deployed to the 5th and 7th Fleet AORs, serving as officer in charge of Commander Task Group 72.8 in Kadena Air Base Okinawa, Japan. He completed aircraft transition to the P-8A Poseidon following the deployment.
In May 2020, Drummond joined Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee where he served as CVN/Carrier Strike Group placement officer.
Drummond reported to VP-26 as executive officer in June 2022 and became the commanding officer in May 2023.
Drummond’s awards include Strike Flight Air medal (3), Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal (5), Navy Achievement Medal (1), Armed Forces Service Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal, and various unit and campaign awards.