DIRTY
Lt Col Aaron Sanchez
- Distinguished Flying Cross
- Air Medal (5 Awards)
- Aerial Achievement Medal
- None on file
SERVICE RECORD
Lt Col Aaron “Dirty” Sanchez is the long arm of Carrier Air Wing ZERO (CVW-0 “Deep Scythe”), a special operations mobility pilot whose career never quite belonged to a single service. Navy-trained and wearing Wings of Gold, Dirty ultimately built his career in the U.S. Air Force behind the controls of the C-130J Super Hercules. Years of tactical airlift and special operations support turned him into a specialist in long-range, single-ship penetration — flying low, dark, and far from help. To Dirty, the Hercules was never simply a cargo aircraft; it was a scalpel, capable of putting the right people and equipment into places where conventional aviation couldn't go.
Dirty's path to Deep Scythe began when Leviathan found herself operating beyond the practical reach of her normal support aircraft. A small but critical movement required the range of a Hercules, leaving only one problem: there was nowhere to land. Dirty's solution was characteristically unconventional — put the C-130J on CVN-00. What was intended as a one-time mission exposed a capability gap and ultimately gave birth to VRS-37 “Revenants,” a two-aircraft detachment built around clandestine infiltration, exfiltration, personnel recovery, airdrop, and sensitive tactical airlift. The Revenants became Deep Scythe's reach beyond the horizon, operating globally and rarely remaining aboard Leviathan for long.
His reunion with old friend CDR “ESSP” Taylor also returned Dirty to his naval roots. Despite commanding his own detachment, Dirty took on a second and considerably more humbling role within VFA-199 “Wet Death” — F/A-18 student under ESSP's instruction.
For Dirty, the logic was simple: Why not both?