Copyright © 2006 -
The Marine Corps
After graduating from Loma Linda Academy in 1996, my intention was to attend Embry Riddle University with the idea of eventually becoming a military pilot or working for the airlines. However, the cost of college was an insurmountable hurdle and it looked like Embry Riddle would be an unattainable dream. My mom suggested that a round-about way to the degree and at least a chance to work around aircraft might be through the military. And, even though I would not attend Embry Riddle, I might still get pilot training. It all made sense, and in early 1997 I joined the US Marines.
Part of the bargain for any sort of aeronautical training was a 5th year of service, to which I agreed. After basic training, I went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina where I was assigned to helicopter mechanic school. This seemed well off track of my intended path and seemed even more so when I was the sole Marine Private from my class assigned to Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, working on obsolete, Vietnam vintage Sikorsky CH53D helicopters. These choppers had no relevance to modern combat missions. My goal was to work on fixed-wing aircraft, not helicopters, and the path that would one day be rather clear to me looked quite indistinct at this point. Another obstacle seemed to appear when it became clear that my eyesight would forever keep me from becoming a military pilot. Without military flying experience, the major airlines were probably a closed door also. The one amazingly bright spot in all of this was that Embry Riddle, the school that I thought was another lost goal, had an extension campus on base. I completed my AA in mathematics at Hawaii Pacific University and enrolled with Embry Riddle in their Professional Aeronautics program. If I wasn’t destined to be a military pilot or a commercial airline pilot, perhaps God had some other plan for me.
From High School...
...to the Marines...
It was during one of my leaves back to the mainland, that I attended an Adventist conference in Palm Springs. One of the organizations represented there was Mission Aviation Fellowship, at that time based out of the airport in Redlands, CA, just a short drive from our house. Once I learned the mission of MAF, a light bulb went on and a career path crystallized for me: a way to assist and help people like those I had seen in Brazil along with a way to incorporate my growing love of flying. I would become a missionary pilot. But, how?
The return to Hawaii and Marine duty took on a new importance. I continued my college studies and also enrolled in a private pilot’s course locally. Before I was discharged, I had completed my Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry Riddle, and I was a newly minted private pilot.
The return to Hawaii and Marine duty took on a new importance. I continued my college studies and also enrolled in a private pilot’s course locally. Before I was discharged, I had completed my Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry Riddle, and I was a newly minted private pilot.
..to a desire for Missionary Work!
