The Navy said two combat-experienced aviators who died when their jet fighter crashed in Washington state last week were trailblazers and role models whose influence touched countless people at their home base and beyond.
The Navy confirmed Monday that Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay “Miley” Evans and Lt. Serena “Dug” Wileman, both 31, died Oct. 15 when their EA-18G Growler jet went down in a heavily wooded area east of Mount Rainier.
Soldiers from the Army’s 1st Special Forces Group at nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord employed specialized mountaineering and high-angle rescue skills to reach the crash site at 6,000 feet in the Cascade Mountain Range, Navy officials said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, Navy officials said Monday.
Cmdr. Evans, a naval flight officer, and Lt. Wileman, a naval aviator, recently returned from a combat deployment with their unit, Electronic Attack Squadron 130, known as the “Zappers.” They spent nine months at sea aboard the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier conducting combat strikes into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen as part of the U.S. mission to protect merchant ship traffic in the Red Sea area, officials said.
“Their efforts directly contributed to the Navy’s mission defending U.S. and Coalition forces while keeping the seas open and free with precision and purpose,” officials said in a statement. “These role models cemented legacies by making history that will inspire future generations of Naval officers and aviators.”
The two California natives flew multiple strike missions at Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen during the squadron’s 2023-2024 deployment, marking them as among the few women to conduct combat missions over land, the Navy said.
Capt. Marvin Scott, commander of Carrier Air Wing 3, said the two flyers will be remembered for their tenacity and positive energy.
“I have personally flown with both of these great Americans in both training and dynamic combat operations and they always performed professionally and precisely,” he said in a statement. “As true leaders in the Growler community, VAQ-130, and across my Air Wing, their contributions cannot be overstated. I could not be more proud to have served with each of them.”