Capt Whitney Irby, USMC

NL110 Professor

Captain Irby is a native of Oak Ridge, TN and graduated from Oak Ridge High School. She graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor’s of Science in Naval Architecture and a minor in Spanish.  She was a member of the 18^th Company Yarddogs, and ran on the Cross Country and Marathon Teams.  She commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in May of 2012.

Upon Completion of The Basic School in Quantico, VA in January 2013, and she served as the Executive Officer of Armor Training Company in Fort Benning, GA until she began flight school in Pensacola, FL.  First Lieutenant Irby earned her wings of gold as a Naval Flight Officer in March 2016, and went on to complete training as an F/A-18 Weapons and Sensors Operator at VMFAT-101 onboard MCAS Miramar in San Diego, CA.

First Lieutenant Irby joined Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, the Hawks, in Beaufort, SC in February 2017.  She was also promoted to Captain in February 2017.  During her time with the Hawks, she supported numerous exercises, detachments, and deployments.  Most notable exercises included Naval Weapons Safety and Evaluation Program, Max Thunder, Rim of the Pacific, Integrated Training Exercise, and numerous External Air Support detachments in support of Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course.  She deployed twice with the Hawks in support of Unit Deployment Program in March 2018 to Iwakuni, Japan and Gwangju, South Korea.  The second deployment was in September 2020 back to Iwakuni as well as Okinawa, Japan.  Captain Irby served as the Legal Officer, Aviation Safety Officer, and Assistant Aviation Maintenance Officer during her time with VMFA(AW)-533.  She attended training for SERE school, Legal Officer’s Course, Joint Multi-TDL Link 16 Planner Course, Casualty Assistance Calls Officer Course, Aviation Safety Officer Course, Expeditionary Warfare School, Raytheon Warfighter School, and Aeronautical Technical Publications Library Management Course.

After the completion of her tour with the Hawks, Captain Irby reported to the United States Naval Academy in June 2021 to serve as a Leadership Instructor. Her personal decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a gold star in lieu of second award and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.