Canja earns her wings

Former Sisters resident Lieutenant (JG) Katherine Canja, US Navy, completed "Advanced Flight Training" last February at the Pensacola Naval Air School and was awarded "Naval Flight Officer (NFO) Wings."

Lieutenant Canja, daughter of Safron and Judy Canja, formerly of Sisters, graduated from Oregon State University in December 2010 with a degree in radiation health physics and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy.

Canja, who holds a private pilot license, graduated from Sisters High School in 2005, where she was the student body vice president, captain of the swim team, sang in choir and played piano, saxophone and flute in the school music program.

In March, she completed a two-week Naval Aviator Survival Course in Southern California and has been assigned to Lemoore Naval Air Station. At Lemoore NAS, she will undergo approximately one year of intensive NFO training flying in the F-18E/F Super Hornet. As an NFO she specializes in navigation and the operation of F-18 Airborne Weapons, Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems. Upon graduation, she will be assigned to an F-18 Pacific or Atlantic Fleet aircraft carrier-based strike squadron.