VT-9 Leadership

Commanding Officer

Cmdr. Justin J. Estrada was born and raised in Anaheim, California. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in political science. After receiving his commission, he earned his designation as a Naval Aviator in 2008 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian from Training Squadron (VT) 7. In September 2009, with the VFA-125 "Rough Raiders" in Lemoore, California, he completed initial training for the F/A-18C.

His first fleet tour was with the VFA-146 "Blue Diamonds" where his duties included avionics/armament division officer, Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) officer, and air-to-surface weapons and tactics officer. His tour included Operations Tomodachi, New Dawn and Enduring Freedom in Japan, Iraq and Afghanistan aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CNV 76) in 2011.

His first shore tour was with the "Tigers" of VT-9 at NAS Meridian as an instructor pilot where he participated in multiple weapons and carrier qualification detachments. He served as a schedules officer and assistant operations officer. In 2014, he was selected as the Training Wing 1 IP of the Year.

Subsequent to his production tour, he served as flag aide to Commander Naval Air Warfare Center - Weapons Division located in China Lake, California. He returned to the fleet as a department head with the "Royal Maces" of VFA-27. In Japan, first at Naval Air Facility Atsugi then Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, he made three deployments from 2017 to 2020. There he earned his qualification as a strike lead and served as the administrative, safety, and operations department heads. Following his tour in Japan, he earned his masters degree in defense and strategic studies in Newport, Rhode Island, where he was also selected for promotion and command.

Estrada currently serves as the commanding officer of the "Tigers" of VT-9.