Cmdr. Stephen R. Foley, a 1984 graduate of Hamilton College and now a graduate student at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., will assume command of the Blue Angels at Pensacola Naval Air Station on Nov. 14 after the 2004 air show season ends. He will fly the No. 1 jet in the six-plane team for the next two years.
Foley, a native of Charlestown, Mass., majored in English at Hamilton. After graduating, he went through the Navy's officer candidate school in Pensacola and earned his wings at Meridian Naval Air Station, Miss., where he then served as an instructor pilot.
He flew support missions during Operation Desert Shield while based at Lemoore Naval Air Station, Calif., served as a Topgun student and instructor at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School on Miramar Naval Air Station, Calif., and flew over Iraq during Operation Southern Watch in 1996 and 1998. Foley flew 48 combat missions over Afghanistan from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt during Operation Enduring Freedom as executive officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 82, based at Beaufort Marine Corps Station, S.C. Since July 2003, he has been working on a master of arts degree in national security and strategic studies at the Naval War College.
