Dan River Flight Cadet graduates from 2022 AFJROTC Flight Academy!!!

By: SM Nick Keaton, CAP
Assistant PAO, Dan River Flight

 

After completing eight weeks of rigorous training, C/SSgt Erin Price was welcomed back home as a newly licensed private pilot and a graduate of the 2022 AFJROTC Flight Academy at Purdue University. C/SSgt Price, a dually enrolled Air Force JROTC and Civil Air Patrol Cadet, was invited to deliver a presentation sharing her experience with fellow cadets at Dan River Flight (NC-070). 

The AFJROTC Flight Academy is a scholarship program sponsored by the Air Force and dozens of universities nationwide. The program was developed to address the national shortage of pilots, and to increase diversity within the aerospace industry by offering this opportunity to the Air Force’s most diverse asset: AFJROTC. The scholarship is available for AFJROTC students ages 17+ with a 3.0 GPA, a demonstrated fluency in English, a passing score on the Air Force aviation aptitude test, and endorsements from their instructor and high school.  

Typically, student pilots spend thousands of dollars and need several months to obtain a private pilot license. Many aviation schools only cover ground certifications. Students often must seek out Certified Flight Instructors for flight hours on their own. What makes the AFJROTC Flight Academy unique? It’s a comprehensive program that provides all instruction and flight time needed to obtain a private pilot license in-house, at no cost to the student. All costs are covered by the scholarship including the most expensive components of pilot training: textbooks and fuel. C/SSgt Price brought her backpack full of textbooks to provide an example of how much money the program saves the student. “They gave us all the books we needed in this nice backpack when we arrived.” She also showed off a new aviation headset given to her by the Academy during communications training. “This is probably thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff provided by the Air Force and Purdue University.”  

When asked if there was any advice to cadets who may be interested in the program, C/SSgt Price said, “You fly in pairs. You’re going to be flying day one depending on the weather. Volunteer to go first. Fly first. The turbulence is worse in the back of the plane. If you fly first, you’ll know what to expect when it’s your partner’s turn to fly, maybe you can even take a nap. If you fly second, you’re going to be much more nervous.” 

How does AFJROTC relate to CAP and what is dual enrollment? Both programs are overseen by the Air Force and share a similar cadet education curriculum based on Air Force regulations. However, a key difference is that AFJROTC membership is limited to high school students while CAP membership is community-based. Anyone aged 12+ can join CAP and volunteer to participate in real-world emergency services missions on the local, state, and national levels. Despite this difference, the two organizations work together by hosting leadership training and aerospace education events for cadets and educators. The most dedicated, self-driven cadets enroll in both programs to take advantage of an extended network of educational opportunities that set them apart from their peers when applying for college. Dan River Flight is proud to host six dually enrolled cadets including C/SSgt Price.

For More Information:

SM Nick Keaton, CAP