Foil: 17 Panel: 3 Column: 2 Line: 29

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. John R. Odom

Now the facts. Meredith Carol Loughran graduated from Highland Springs High School in 1990 in the top 10 of her class. She was very active, being a member of the color guard and a cheerleader. At various grade levels she was a member of the tennis team, the cross country team, the track team, the gymnastics team, and the soccer team. She was the best female distance runner and tennis player at the school by her junior year.

Four years after high school Meredith graduated from Mary Washington College (1994) with a degree in Math. Although she graduated Cum Laude and was a member of the honorary mathematics society, Meredith enjoyed parties, the social scene, and night life. After high school, she "retired" from organized sports.

After spending a year in Philadelphia working for an insurance agency, Meredith enlisted in the U.S. Navy in October 1995. She went through Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, FL, earning her ensign bars in January, 1996. She was third and the only female in a class where nearly two-thirds dropped out. Meredith stayed in Pensacola for flight school, receiving her Naval Flight Officer wings in June, 1997.

Meredith received advance flight instruction in the Navy's Prowler (EA-6B) in Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, WA. Her first major deployment commenced in November, 1998, on board the USS Enterprise Aircraft Carrier. On November 8, 1998, during a night landing on the way to the Middle East, all four aviators in her Prowler were instantly killed when there was contact with another aircraft on the flight deck. Meredith was a Lieutenant Junior Grade. She was 26.