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<< Previous   of   Next >> U.S. Navy photo  (click to enlarge) Petty officers Zackary Gruwell (left) and Meredith Ansley are joining the Blue Angels. Both are stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Whidbey sailors to join Blue Angels By Jackson Holtz Herald Writer LANGLEY -- At first, when Petty Officer 2nd Class Meredith Ansley got the e-mail that she'd been accepted for the Navy's Blue Angels team, she believed it was a prank. Ansley, who had dreamed since her childhood of being a part of the Navy's elite demonstration squad, thought one of her shipmates aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was joking with her. "I was expecting to find out through an official Navy message," Ansley said. "I had to double-check the e-mail address to make sure it was a certified Blue Angels e-mail address and not from someone on the boat goofing around or pulling my leg." Ansley and another petty officer, Zackary Gruwell, both from the "Lancers" of Electronic Attack Squadron 131 based at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, have been selected to be a part of the Blue Angels' Flight Demonstration Team for 2009. "I am looking forward to showing people what naval aviation is all about, what the jets can do, and making a difference, even in a little way for somebody," Gruwell said. The pair, currently deployed to Afghanistan aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, were the only sailors selected from the EA-6B Prowler community. Most of those selected for the Blue Angels team have a background working with the F/A18 Hornet. Ansley, an aviation electronics technician, spent summers vacationing in Florida close to Pensacola Naval Air Station and watched the Blue Angels practice and perform shows. She reported to the "Lancers" in September 2004 as an airman and has progressed to be one of the leading "Lancer" second class petty officers. Gruwell, an aviation machinist's mate, also has been in love with planes ever since he was a little kid. It is a thrill for him to be with the "Lancers" and work on an aircraft carrier. The pair's Growler squadron is part of Carrier Air Wing 2 and embarked with the Lincoln's Strike Group, which recently moved from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman to support combat in Afghanistan. The Blue Angels often participate in Seafair events in the Seattle area. This year, the jets perform the first weekend in August over Lake Washington. In 2009, when the two Whidbey-based sailors join the team, the Seafair air show runs from July 31 to Aug. 2, according to Seafair's Web site.

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