CA-25: Mike Garcia (R)
PROFILE
About Garcia:
Mike Garcia is a decorated United States Naval Officer whose record-setting flying performance earned him the honor of becoming one of the first Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy. He flew over 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the skies above Baghdad, Fallujah and Tikrit.
Garcia has been a resident of Santa Clarita since his move to Saugus in 1982 at the age of six. Garcia grew up dreaming of becoming a Naval Aviator.
A top graduate of Saugus High School in 1994, Garcia was nominated by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon to attend the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Garcia graduated in the top 3% of his Annapolis class with a bachelor’s degree. In May of 1998 he was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy with orders to attend flight school in Pensacola, Fla.
As an F/A-18 pilot Garcia was deployed several times on the USS Nimitz, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. He was lauded as one of the best leaders and one of the most talented pilots in the Navy.
Accruing over 1400 hours of operational flight time after nearly 20 years of military service, Garcia decided to separate from the US Navy with an Honorable Discharge and focus on his family. While he continued as a reservist instructor pilot, Garcia moved back to the 25th District in 2009 and went to work for Raytheon Company.
Garcia is married to Rebecca Garcia, the owner of Rebecca Rollins Interiors in Santa Clarita, and they have two children.