Major Spooner was born on 28 May 1981 in Fullerton California. Major Spooner attended Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California to earn his FAA Airframe and Powerplant License, with Associates Degrees in Commercial Flight and Aviation Maintenance. Concurrently, he earned a Private Pilots Certification. After his time at Junior College, he went on to complete OCS in the summer of 2005. He finished a Bachelor’s in Science Degree in 2008 at Southern Illinois University in Aviation Business Management. He was delayed prior to commissioning due to a Naval Aeromedical issue that took the better part of two years to resolve. Upon commissioning as a Second Lieutenant, Major Spooner served 6 months of PTAD at OST Orange, CA before shipping to The Basic School in March of 2010.
Following The Basic School, he was assigned to MATSG-21, NAS Pensacola. During this tour, Major Spooner completed Aviation Primary Instruction, Initial Training with VT-2, Intermediate Training with HT-18, and Advanced Training with VT-35 in NAS Corpus Christi. After winging as a MV-22 Osprey co-pilot in March of 2013, he attended SERE school aboard NAS North Island. He then checked into VMMT-204 in New River, North Carolina for initial training in the MV-22.
Following training at VMMT-204, Major Spooner checked into MAG-16 in September of 2013 for his initial tour with VMM-163. He completed two 11th MEU deployments 14-2/16-2 along with multiple west coast exercises and CONUS DFTs with VMM-163. During this time, he served as the Flight Equipment OIC, a weekly schedule writer/COPSO, and the Quality Assurance OIC. He also served as an Instrument Evaluator and the Functional Check Pilot Standardization Officer at VMM-163. In June of 2018, Major Spooner checked into HQSVCBN aboard MCRD, San Diego to serve as the Western Recruiting Region (WRR) Aviation Assistant for Officer Procurement (AAOP). His primary responsibilities include monitoring and promoting the Marine Corps Flight Officer Program (MCFOP) and assisting the Regional Assistant for Officer Procurement in any way required. He then was assigned to MAG-39 serving as the S-5 OIC and attended the MV-22 re-fresher course with VMMT-204. He checked into VMM-364 in March of 2022 and initially served as the S-4 OIC. He currently is serving as the squadron’s Executive Officer.
Over the past 12 years, Major Spooner has had attended multiple courses including the Aviation Maintenance Officers Course, the Quality Assurance Course, the NAMP Corrosion Course and Expeditionary Warfare School. Outside of the Marine Corps Major Spooner, maintains proficiency in aviation maintenance by performing inspections and service on general aviation aircraft. He also attends regular maintenance seminars hosted by the FAA to retain his Inspector Authorization Certification from the FAA. Additionally he owns and maintains a Cessna 182 based in the San Diego area. Other interests include mountain biking, boating/fishing, auto restoration, home improvement, surfing, civilian flying, and welding/fabrication.