The Putnam City Air Force JROTC has recognized junior Ryan Wall for being selected to participate in the 2024 AFJROTC Flight Academy this summer. The Academy, in which 19 universities, including Oklahoma’s own Spartan College of Aeronautics & Tech, provide high school students across the country who are involved with the JROTC an opportunity to earn their private pilot’s certification. The program which has been around since 2018 has provided the opportunity to more than 300 cadets to further advance their career in aviation.
“At first, I wasn’t interested in JROTC but my parent’s kind of forced me into it, and I just went with it. It’s kind of just worked out and I got interested in aviation the longer I was in it. It’s been pretty good since I joined,” junior Ryan Wall said.
Ryan Wall is not the only person from his family to attend this nationwide program; his brother, a former student at PCO, was also awarded the same scholarship two years ago.
“I’m looking forward to getting my license and being involved in new experiences. Meet other people who are interested in this field as much as I am,” junior Ryan Wall said.
It should be also known that Ryan is the 9th PCO JROTC cadet in the last six years to be selected for this prestigious program, which aims to improve the diversity of aviation pilots. Ryan’s acceptance into the program also makes this the sixth consecutive year since the program’s inception for a PCO student to be selected to participate.
“I’m probably not going into the air force or military in the future, but I’m probably going to branch out into aviation related careers. I think that’s going to be the main thing I do after high school,” junior Ryan Wall said.
The flight academy which consists of 160 JROTC high school students, age 17 and above is a competitive program to enter. The pool of students ranges from high school students in California to students from Germany. If selected, the scholarship is worth around $25,000.
“Ryan Wall has been with us for three years; his brother was with us for four years. Both are super sharp kids, always volunteered, always looking for ways to help, smart, athletic, aggressive in a sense that they look for opportunities and get them. Some kids just wait for opportunities to come to them but when the Walls see an opportunity they pursue it, they stay determined to their goal,” Lt. Col. Dane Christensen said.
The Flight Academy which will last approximately two months, aims to motivate, and support high school students interested in pursuing careers in aviation. This scholarship initiative results from a partnership between the aerospace sector and the Air Force, jointly addressing a nationwide deficit in pilots. According to Boeing, there is a projected requirement to recruit 6,000 civilian pilots annually over the next two decades. So not only will this program provide young students with the ability to earn a certificate in flying, but possibly a job in aviation for some of America’s largest commercial aviation companies.
