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Statesville native flying high with Blue Angels
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Published: August 30, 2009
Statesville is proud to be the hometown of NASA Astronaut Thomas H. Marshburn, MD, and now will also be known as the hometown of one of America's elite military aviators.
One of the newest members of the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, is Navy Lt. Robert W. Kurrle Jr., a 1997 graduate of Statesville High School. Lt. Kurrle was recently selected to the 2010 Blue Angels while assigned to Fighter Attack Squadron (VFA) 106, Naval Air Station (NAS), Oceana, Va. He will be serving as a Blue Angel's F/A-18 Hornet pilot.
Robert W. Kurrle Jr. was born in 1979 in Huntsville, Ala. The family moved to Statesville in the summer of 1988 from Gainesville, Fla., after his father finished his ophthalmology residency at the University of Florida.
Iredell County residents may remember Lt. Kurrle's parents, Dr. Robert W. Kurrle, MD, and Mrs. Roseann Kurrle. Dr. Kurrle had an ophthalmologist practice in Statesville from 1988 to 1999. Mrs. Kurrle worked in the practice with her husband. Dr. and Mrs. Kurrle are now retired and live in Daytona Beach, Fla.
It was Lt. Kurrle's father who most fostered in him an interest in aviation.
"I've always had aviation in my blood; my dad has been involved with general aviation as a pilot since before I was born and is currently a medical examiner for the FAA in Daytona Beach. He would often take me flying with him. My first solo in an airplane was at the Statesville airport in a Cessna 150."
But Kurrle's mother also influenced him to consider an aviation-centered career.
"My mom spent over 15 years as a flight attendant prior to living in Statesville."
Some R&L readers may also remember Lt. Kurrle's brother, Ryan Kurrle, who went to East Iredell Elementary and East Middle School. Ryan, who also has his instrument rating and had his first solo flight on his 16th birthday, graduated from the University of Florida in 2007 and now works for General Electric out of Charlotte.
Lt. Kurrle continued: "I had a lot of influential teachers at Statesville High and it is impossible to name all of them, but the ones that stick out are Mrs. Pat Hall, Mr. Ed McLelland, Mr. Eric Stramecky and Mrs. Gloria Hill and from the 6th grade, Mrs. Joanne Dodick at the Montessori School. There were many others that helped give me the tools to succeed at the Naval Academy.
"Tennis was the only sport I played at Statesville High. The highlight was going undefeated our senior year and winning the state championship.
"The biggest influence outside of my family and Statesville High was my tennis coach, Mr. Randy Pate. I took my first tennis lesson from Coach Pate at Caldwell Park when I was ten years old, and he had a tremendous influence on all of us who played for him.
"Growing up in Statesville, I spent just about every day on the Caldwell Park tennis courts with Jamie Rudd and Patrick Hauser along with Coach Randy Pate and Coach Jason Little. We would practice during the week and compete in tennis tournaments on the weekends."
He added, "Last month I visited Statesville. I was amazed at the new Statesville High School. Wow!"
Lt. Kurrle's wife, the former Jennifer Larson from Fairfax County, Va., works as a pediatrics nurse practitioner in Virginia Beach, Va.
Before going to Annapolis, Kurrle made a detour to Roswell, N.M.
"I was recruited to play tennis at the U.S. Naval Academy, but spent my first year out of high school attending New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M. In 1998, I went on to play varsity tennis at the Naval Academy and graduated in 2002 with a degree in mechanical engineering.
"I went through initial flight training in Pensacola, Fla., and then Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla., where I flew the T-34C 'Turbo-Mentor' propeller-driven training aircraft. From there I was an honorary graduate and selected jets, and then moved to Kingsville, Texas, for advanced jet training in the T-45A 'Goshawk' jet trainer aircraft.
"After selecting to fly F/A-18s after receiving my naval aviator's wings in January 2004, I then moved to Virginia Beach, Va., for my training in the Hornet strike fighter at NAS Oceana.
"I served with VFA-34, 'The Blue Blasters,' from February 2005 through February 2008, deploying aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). Since February of 2008, I have been a F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet Instructor Pilot at VFA-106, 'The Gladiators,' in NAS Oceana.
"This past July I was selected to be a member of the Blue Angels, and will join the team in mid-September. My tour of duty with them will be for two to three years, depending on what position I serve in."
The Blue Angels were formed at the end of World War II at the order of the then chief of Naval operations, Chester W. Nimitz, as a flight demonstration team to keep the public interested in naval aviation.
The Blue Angels performed their first flight demonstration less than a year later in June 1946. They currently fly the F/A-18 Hornet for flight demonstrations.
The mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts, to represent the naval service to the United States and its elected leadership and to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to foreign nations.
So, Statesville, keep your eye on that young lady with the wicked backhand or that young man with the supersonic serve. One day they may be flying high.
Literally.
O.C. Stonestreet is a retired Iredell County history teacher and works in the newsroom at the R&L. He can be reached at ostonestreet@statesville.com.
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