FSU Physics Alum, Amy Crisp, U.S. Navy Lt.
By Amy Crisp, BS '07
Amy Crisp graduated from Florida State University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 2007. She went on to earn her Master's in Physics from FSU in 2008. During her time at FSU, she spent a number of years participating in research that focused on nuclear structure physics, working with Dr. Kirby Kemper. Her research experience gave her numerous opportunities to present posters and presentations at American Physical Society (APS) and APS Division of Nuclear Physics conferences, as well as coauthoring several published papers. She also participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program at University of Washington, gaining familiarity with the field of nuclear astrophysics. Additionally, Amy traveled to Washington, D.C. where she and her fellow physicists met with Congressional members and their staff to lobby for funding of the Rare Isotope Accelerator.
After completing her Master's, Amy joined the U.S. Navy through Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. She was commissioned as a Naval Officer in December of 2008, and began her training to become a Navy Pilot. Through the pilot training process, she pursued the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance community, which at the time utilized the P-3C Orion aircraft. After earning her "Wings of Gold" in October of 2010, she learned to fly the venerable Orion and joined the "War Eagles" of Patrol Squadron Sixteen (VP-16) in Jacksonville, Fla.
Lt. Crisp completed a six-month deployment with VP-16 to the Seventh Fleet Area of Responsibility in Kadena, Japan. During her time there, she was given the opportunity to travel to Australia, Thailand, and other areas of Japan as part of various exercises to promote interoperability between the U.S. and its allies.
After returning from this deployment, Lt. Crisp and the War Eagles were the first squadron to complete the historic transition to the P-8A Poseidon. The P-8A is a militarized Boeing Next-Generation 737 derivative which will, over time, completely replace the P-3C. Once they had mastered this new aircraft and its Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) mission, VP-16 once again headed to Kadena to complete a very successful seven-month deployment with the P-8A. During this deployment, the War Eagles were honored to provide extensive support for the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Also during her second deployment, Lt. Amy Crisp was qualified as a Mission Commander and an Instructor Pilot, allowing her to teach her fellow squadron mates the skills and techniques of flying the Poseidon. During the entirety of her almost four years in the squadron, she held various responsibilities, including squadron public affairs, the daily scheduling of over 100 aircrew, aircraft maintenance quality assurance, and the programmatic authority for the continued training of the roughly 30 pilots within the squadron.
"In each of the positions that I held, I was given the opportunity to solve problems and find ways to make the system more efficient and effective. Whether it was the daily puzzle of scheduling 100 people or the long-term plan to train and qualify each new pilot, I was consistently engaged," stated Lt. Crisp. The critical thinking skills that she refined in her days as a physicist paid off, as did the things she learned about teaching. "I taught an astronomy lab as a graduate student TA, and the practice that I got doing that was wholly transferable to instructing in an aircraft."
In June of 2015, Amy received orders to Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Eleven (CPRW-11) to fulfill the duty of Aviation Safety Officer (ASO). In route, she attended the Naval School of Aviation Safety, where she learned how to analyze convoluted evidence in order to investigate aircraft mishaps as well as best practices for implementing a culture of safety in the Naval Aviation community. Regarding this school, Lt. Crisp said, "Not only did this course allow me to get excited about the science behind things like aerodynamics and brittle versus ductile failure of metals, it empowered me and taught me how to make use of the tools that have been proven to prevent errors and accidents throughout the history of aviation." In her current role, Amy will also continue to act as an Instructor Pilot in the P-8A.