The US Air Force published an interesting story about 2Lt Abraham Morland, whose origins may be a little unique but whose desires about Air Force flying are probably pretty common:

Second Lt. Abraham Morland…held dual citizenship in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was born to British parents in Tulsa, Okla., where his father worked as a flight simulator technician…

“My real love was America, I wanted to come back home to the states and join the U.S. Air Force,” he said.

As a result, his parents moved back to the United Sates so their son could pursue his dream of becoming an American pilot.

Morland ultimately enlisted and then spent years trying to get into the US Air Force Academy:

“I thought that was the only way I could become an Air Force pilot,” he said. “My grades were okay, but I didn’t have high enough (aptitude test) scores.”

Unable to get accepted, his commander advised him to attend ROTC. Now he’s a student pilot at Sheppard AFB, Texas.

Morland’s misconceptions about how to become a pilot are not uncommon. In truth, all one has to be in the Air Force is an officer, and to be an officer all you have to do is go to college. You don’t need either USAFA or ROTC — you can even just attend the three-month officer training school. It is true, though, that each commissioning source has unique traits, and sometimes even unique access to the pilot world. Still, it is possible through each.  (See other questions addressed here.)

Normally, enlisting first (rather than entering the service as an officer) is not advisable unless it is unavoidable. Fortunately, Morland had a commander who apparently looked out for him and gave him good advice.

Morland wasn’t only depending on his commander, though:

Having a strong Christian faith, Morland said he “gave it all to God” in his pursuit to becoming a pilot in the Air Force…His original dream of flying the heavies…has morphed into wanting to fly fighters. Ultimately, he said, it doesn’t matter — as long as he’s flying high.

That’s a perspective that will get him far.

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