NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI, Japan — Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Lambaiso can look at his squadron’s Super Hornets a little differently for the next week.

The aviation ordnanceman is slated to leave soon for officer candidate school, followed by a guaranteed spot in flight training school; he’s one of just a handful of enlisted sailors to earn that opportunity.

Lambaiso, 25, always had thought of being a pilot or a Navy SEAL. The latter goal encouraged him to enlist after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, because the waiting list to get into SEAL training is years longer for officers than enlisted men.

He was accepted for but did not complete the SEAL training, so he selected a rate — working with ordnance in an aviation squadron — until he could somehow become a pilot, he said.

He came to Atsugi with VFA 27, which then moved to Lemoore, Calif., to transition from a Hornet to a Super Hornet squadron.

More than a year ago, he applied to OCS, with the request to be an aviation officer. His plans were derailed again this year when he received a rejection letter. But a month ago, out of the blue, he came to work and found a surprise. Someone in his squadron called him “sir,” the officer designation.

“I thought I had made second (class),” he said. At the squadron’s office, he received a bittersweet phone message — someone had called to offer him a spot at OCS but only if he responded that day. It was morning at Atsugi but too late back in the States, where the call had originated.

He waited a long, excruciating day until he was able to call and find he did, in fact, have a spot.

Meanwhile, he said, his squadron went crazy. His skipper was ecstatic, Lambaiso recalled. Many of the squadron’s pilots have been giving him advice about flight school and training.

“They tell me it’s not difficult; you just have to put the time into it,” he said.

The actual orders came through last week; in a week, he’ll be off.

Lambaiso said if being a SEAL wasn’t in the cards, he always planned to be a pilot.

“As far as I can remember I always wanted to fly,” he said. “Flying around, doing rolls, fighting bad guys, dropping bombs. I’m also looking forward to being a Navy officer.”

Being an officer will let him use the VMI training as well as experience garnered in three years as an enlisted sailor in an aviation squadron, especially one that has transitioned into a new aircraft.

“I have that unique perspective,” he said. “Actually, I think it worked out better than I thought it would.”

He said as a pilot and future leader, he’ll know how to work with the flight crew who support him.

“I know what it means when a pilot says they had a hard landing,” which can cause a lot of damage. “I know what it does to the morale of the squadron, the hard work they’ll have.”