110929-N-DR144-495 PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 29, 2011) Logistics Specialist 1st Class Mesfin Marcos, Leading Petty Officer in charge of safety for Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25, holds a model of a Russian-built Mig-21 fighter aircraft used to train Carrier Air Wing 17 pilots in air-to-air combat aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Marcos flew the Mig-21 as a pilot in the Ethiopian National Defense Force from 1986 to 1989 before defecting from the country, which was then ruled by a military communist dictatorship, and eventually enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1994. Marcos remains an avid recreational pilot and intends to pursue a career in civil aviation when he retires from the Navy. Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing 17 are underway conducting operations off the coast of Southern California. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans (RELEASED)