On an average summer day, students wake up very late in the morning, eat, and get on their phone. However, there are a few students who went to a flight academy, to get 

their very own pilot’s license. 

The flight academy is an effort to help with the shortage of pilots. It is intended to inspire and encourage high school youth toward aviation careers. In 2018, AFJROTC awarded 120 scholarships to students. Out of the 120 students, seniors Merrick Seeley and Braden Sweeten got their Pilot’s license.  

“It is great, I feel unique.” Sweeten said. “I wanted to be a pilot because I was interested in it, and because none of my family members were in it.” 

“I heard about the program around September of my junior year,” Seeley said. “My best friend Braden and I started studying together, and it’s cool, because now we have our pilots licenses together too.”

The flight academy started in the fall of 2017. It has two purposes: to address the issue of diversity throughout the aviation community, and to regard the opportunities in the aviation community. 

The Air Force is currently short of at least 1,500 pilots, and the AFJROTC is working to train the future pilots and give them scholarships to fly a plane.

“We got there on a Saturday, and on Monday we went straight to work, and hit the ground running,” Seeley said. “You start off with a wingman, but on the 5th day you get to fly solo. It was a lot of studying too.”

“One thing I liked about the academy is that we made new friends,” Sweeten said. “At first we didn’t know each other but as time went on we knew each other to the point that we became friends.”

It takes about eight weeks for a cadet to get a license at the flight academy. However, that does not mean that they will incur a military commitment, and or it does not guarantee acceptance towards one of the Air Force’s officer accessioning programs.

“One of the best things about the academy is the views from the plane,” Sweeten said. “You get to see everything from the air.”

“We got to keep all the stuff, like the maps, and what not.” Seeley said. “It has been a super cool experience, and it will definitely pay off in the long run.”