Oct 23, 2016 1 min read

Lt. Brett Havelka, a Burgettstown native, has been promoted to lieutenant commander with the U.S. Navy. Havelka was deployed in the Middle East as an F-18 fighter pilot aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. He then served with the VX9 Vampires, conducting weapons testing at the China Lake Naval Weapons Station. Havelka is assigned to the sixth fleet in Naples, Italy, and will assume a department head position with VFA-103, the Jolly Rogers, in Oceana, Va., where he will fly the F/A 18F fighter. Havelka is married to the former Carly Sanford of Ridgecrest, Calif., and his parents are Ken and Cathie Havelka of Charleston, S.C.