Service members and their families gathered Friday in the chapel at Naval Air Station Meridian to celebrate nine pilots who completed their training and earned their Wings of Gold.

Chief of Naval Air Training Rear Admiral Robert D. Westendorff said the  ceremony was the culmination of more than a year of advanced training and a lifetime of study and preparation.

“The accomplishment that these young men and women have made is more than you know,” he said. “Becoming a Naval Aviator, getting through primary flight school, getting selected for this advanced training pipeline is not an easy task, succeeding in this advanced pipeline. There are few Americans that can succeed.”

The new Naval Aviators, Westendorff said, can count themselves among a small group of those who excelled above many others.

But the training isn’t done, Westendorff said, and the new aviators have years of further learning to do to mold them into the world class aviators the Navy and the country need to face future threats.

“Now they’re going to go off and learn how to actually fly, operate through the tactics, techniques and procedures of their combat fleet aircraft,” he said. “They have a significant amount of training ahead of them so that they can become the actual world class fleet aviators that we need flying off our aircraft carriers.”

Westendorff said his time as a Naval Aviator was coming to an end, and the graduates would be the ones leading the Navy air forces into the future.

Although the pilots completed the rigorous training at NAS Meridian, he noted that their learning is not yet complete.

“Your journey of being a professional awesome Naval Aviator is just starting, and you’re going to do awesome things,” he said.

The pilots awarded their wings include LCDR Massimiliano Barvina Grandi of Trieste, Italy, LTJG Joseph Colin Bedford of Virginia Beach, VA, LT David Ryan Blanchard of Virginia Beach, VA, LTJG John Taylor Joyce of Warrington, PA, LTJG Anthony Stephen Juliano of Cranford, NJ, LTJG Victoria Gisela Krause of Davidsonville, MD, LTJG Ryan Allen Savitt of Milwaukee, WI, LTJG Nicholas David Taylor of Arlington, WA and LTJG Suzelle Margaret Swing Thomas of Birmingham, AL.

In addition to earning her Wings of Gold, LTJG Thomas was recognized for earning the highest marks of her training class.

Thomas, who will be stationed in California for further training, was also recognized as the first female to be selected for F-35 training directly after a winging.