I’m Airmen First Class(A1C) Isaiah Herring, KC-135 Assistant Dedicated Crew Chief (USAF) stationed at RAF Mildenhall, UK on a short overseas tour.

I attended the Chappie James Flight Academy back in 2007 for the first time when my uncle Cliff Curtis brought me out.  I was maybe 7 years old and all of the other campers there were at least middle or high school age, so I pretty much just went with the flow. I was welcomed in learning and having fun just like everyone else. For as long as I can remember I always had an interest in planes and aviation, I told myself I was gonna be a pilot someday.  As I got older, I started looking deeper into the aviation career field. By the summer going into my 9th-grade year I stumbled upon a career in aerospace engineering which intrigued me to keep looking further into it.

That same summer I went back to the Flight Academy, this time with a good head on my shoulders ready to learn and take in all the information I could from a well-experienced staff of people who have been in aviation for probably longer than I have been alive. That gave me a good hindsight on planes, aviation, how planes fly and the basic principles of flight.

I then ended up getting the opportunity to attend the National Flight Academy on NAS for a week. That was a really good, fun eye-opening experience for me as well. By about my junior year in high school, my mind was made up to join the military. It was originally just a plan for them to pay for me to go to school, then I realized what all I could do as far as a job wise which led me towards the Air Force because I knew I wanted to do something with planes.

I ended up getting the job of Refuel/Bomber Acft maintenance.  As a KC-135 Crew Chief, we launch and recover aircraft, inspect them, change tires, brakes, windows, put fuel on them, anything you can think of for the most part we do it.  I’m working on getting my Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) License as we speak, which would set me up really good in the civilian world when I choose to get out with a good airline or even private plane company as an aircraft technician.

I can truly say the Chappie James Flight Academy set me up for success in the aviation career field!