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- By Chickasaw Nation Media
Naval aviator Lieutenant (Lt.) Cameron Baxter was recently honored for obtaining 1,020 flight hours in 2.5 years, all while training nearly 600 future military aviators. Few instructors fly so many hours in such little time. In August, Lt. Baxter was presented with a Navy and Marine Corps commendation medal for his accomplishment. It was bestowed to him for significantly contributing to his training squadron’s success.
“Being a flight instructor was very rewarding – easily one of the best jobs I’ve had. There’s a certain feeling of satisfaction you get when you see your students have their first ‘Aha!’ moment when the figurative light bulb comes on, and they finally nail that maneuver they were working on,” Lt. Baxter said.
Lt. Baxter, a Chickasaw citizen, was stationed at Naval Air Station, Whiting Field, Milton, Florida. He is currently stationed aboard the USS America (LHA-6), an amphibious assault ship based in Sasebo, Japan.
Although Lt. Baxter has been in the Navy for just more than nine years, he has been influenced by the military his entire life. As the son of a U.S. Marine, Lt. Baxter has lived all over the world. His father, retired Gunnery Sergeant (Gunnery Sgt.) Bryan Baxter, attributes his son’s success to hard work , dedication , perseverance and determination, along with the educational help from the Chickasaw Nation.
As an accomplished aircraft pilot, Lt. Baxter has been certified to fly the T-6B Texan II training aircraft, among others. The Navy has also trained Lt. Baxter to fly helicopters, including the MH-60R Seahawk. The MH-60R has many missions, including antisubmarine warfare, surface warfare, electromagnetic warfare, command and control, and many noncombat missions.
Lt. Baxter is known as “Shrimp” among his fellow pilots and maintenance crew. Like many others, this personalized name was given to him through light, good-natured hazing.
“Shrimp is my call sign. In early 2019, I went on an underway with a group of guys. The guys I was with were all really tall, like 6’3” or taller. For reference, I’m about 5’9” on a good day, so they were kind of already calling me ‘Shrimp,’ as a way of teasing me,” Lt. Baxter said.
“We had pulled into port in California, where we were allowed to get off the ship and enjoy liberty. At one of the various Mexican restaurants we attended, I must have bitten into some shrimp that was left out too long. I quickly came down with food poisoning. That was all it took for my call sign to stick. It was a very long time after that before I had shrimp again,” Lt. Baxter said.
Among military commands, call signs are unique monikers used to identify leaders, military personnel or subunits. These are used to make it more difficult for opponents to gather valuable intelligence during missions.
Lt . Baxter has also found the time to enhance his professional status by completing commercial airline training. Lt. Baxter has completed both Commercial Multi-Engine Rating at the Sanders Aviation Flight School in Jasper, Alabama, and the Delta Airlines Transportation Pilot Certification Training Program in Atlanta, Georgia.
These two courses are requirements for Lt. Baxter to fly commercial airlines, which he plans to do when exiting active duty within the next two years. According to Lt. Baxter, the Chickasaw Nation’s higher education programs helped to fund the education courses.
“Years after joining the Navy, while working on my commercial aviation ratings, I reached out to the Chickasaw education program. They granted me two separate Career Technology Program grants,” Lt. Baxter said.
“I owe the Chickasaw Nation a lot of credit. They have been supportive throughout the years, largely in funding my education expenses, both in school and in my commercial aviation flight training,” Lt. Baxter said.
According to Gunnery Sgt. Baxter, the Chickasaw Nation helped shape Lt. Baxter into the officer he is today.
“Cameron is a success story,” Gunnery Sgt. Baxter said. “He has had much success as a small-town high school graduate from Silo, Oklahoma. The Chickasaw Nation assisted Cameron throughout school, college and getting into Navy Officer Candidate School. While in school both of our boys received clothing grants from the Chickasaw Nation and assistance with orthodontist costs.
“The Chickasaw Nation assisted with college tuition and book cost while Cameron was attending both Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Georgia Southwestern State University , ” Gunnery Sgt. Baxter said.
Lt. Baxter is proud of his Chickasaw heritage. He said he receives his Chickasaw blood from his mother, Alisa. His Chickasaw grandfather is Billy Moore of Kingston, Oklahoma. They are direct descendants of original Dawes enrollee Joseph Sim Miller.
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