ROTC cadet Jeremy Harmon and his flight instructor Nathan Stoddard prepare for take off in a Diamond Star Katana at the Spanish Fork airport on Friday, April 17, 2015.
ROTC cadet Jeremy Harmon and his flight instructor Nathan Stoddard fly over Utah County in a Diamond Star Katana after flying out of the Spanish Fork airport on Friday, April 17, 2015.
PROVO — Cadet/Col. Jeremy Harmon addressed United States Air Force ROTC Detachment 855 at Brigham Young University, posing a question to a room full of new and returning cadets: "What drives you?"
Harmon now serves as cadet wing commander for the Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment since a change of command took place earlier this month. The 22-year-old set his sights on becoming a pilot and has been training at Spanish Fork-Springville Airport since January.
"When you're in a plane, it's just you and the sky. And when the sky is clear and the lighting is perfect you look around you, you see the mountains, you see the light and you just — you want time to stand still. You don't want it to end," Harmon said.
BYU offers two ROTC programs for Army and Air Force services. Harmon admits he had not considered the military as a career path until one of his brothers mentioned it while Harmon was working a summer job in Tennessee.
"When it came down to it I thought, 'Do I want to drive a hummer or fly a plane?' " Jeremy Harmon said.
The new Cadet/Colonel comes from a family of 13 children and grew up in a small town in southwest Wyoming. He's a first-generation military service member in his family, with the exception of his grandfather who served as a U.S. Army marksman for one year post-World War II.
Now as a leader to more than 120 AFROTC cadets from BYU and Utah Valley University, the cadet wing commander is assigned to craft a vision, or a mission statement, that will guide this year's students through the end of fall semester.
He summed it up using three words: Decisions determine destiny.
"Your daily decisions shape who you are and who you become — that's the vision. The importance of leadership and how to lead is to show them by the actions that you are taking daily," Harmon said. "That speaks more powerfully than any word ever could."
AFROTC cadets typically pursue flight hours on their own time, where they train with a certified Federal Aviation Administration instructor. Harmon achieved his first solo flight on March 6 through Diamond Flight Center in a DA20, a two-seat aircraft the U.S. Air Force also uses for training its newest recruits.
Harmon said a student averages approximately 80 landings before performing in a solo flight, which is a significant milestone for any aspiring pilot.
"I remember coming down for the first time, looking over and realizing I was alone in the plane, that I had done this myself and I was just ecstatic," he said. "Soloing is the goal for any Air Force cadet."
Harmon's track to pilot certification includes a number of factors. He said making the cut as a pilot for the armed forces is more competitive than many realize. Standardized test scores, physical fitness, how his commander ranks him relative to his fellow cadets, flight hours and earned GPA will all go into generating a number that represents Harmon as an applicant.
When he submits his application later this year, a pilot board will make its selections for cadets to enter field training. If Harmon is selected, he will travel to one of four bases where he will begin training to become a pilot for the U.S. Air Force.
Diamond Flight Center, a Spanish Fork aviation school involved with Detachment 855 for more than five years, provided much of Harmon's initial training with 19.3 hours of flight time and more than 30 hours of instructor time with the school.
Piloting a smaller aircraft such as a Katana or Cessna, both common models for novice pilots, poses several challenges that differ from operating a commercial aircraft.
"The air turbulence is a lot stronger, because your plane is so much smaller," Harmon said. "It blows you around a lot more. It's an aggressive movement; it's a shaking movement. And I've gotta say that's scary because you almost wonder if it's going to throw you out of the sky."
Other flying aircraft also pose potential hazards and pilots are told to keep their eyes outside the plane and inside the plane simultaneously. Harmon said multitasking is a key attribute to be a successful pilot.
"I've had birds flying by and several times that they've got close to the plane and every pilot worries about the birds," he said. "You have to keep an eye on where they are and you definitely don't want to hit one because you just don't know what could happen.
"There could be a splatter, but it may also cause a mechanical error in the plane. It's like I said about the multitasking: You always have to keep your eyes peeled and looking around."
Sometimes looking around, however, is the greatest part of learning how to fly. Harmon once flew to Heber City and back where he circled Mount Timpanogos during the trip, a mountain he's hiked to the top of before.
"It's so much cooler to be above a mountain than to be on the mountain because you can look down and you see it all. You see the snow, you see the trails ... it's inexplicable, it really is," the cadet said.
With the winter school semester over, Harmon continues to add flight hours to his portfolio with either Diamond Flight Center or with a new startup — Platinum Aviation, which is also based in Spanish Fork. Many AFROTC cadets leave for the summer but are encouraged to stay in touch with their detachment leaders.
Harmon plans to attend Marriott School of Management at BYU and welcomes the assignment to lead BYU/UVU ROTC Detachment 855 during the coming year. He initially got involved in the program because of the fitness element. He later came to realize being an officer in the U.S. Air Force allowed him to be a part of something larger than himself and the leadership opportunities he'd encounter would stretch his abilities.
"You can be whoever you want to be. If you want to be a pilot, be a pilot. If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. Those decisions, they are up to you." Harmon said. "You are in control of your destiny. Obviously, there will be times when there's a fork in the road and when change is necessary ... [but] it's not about the destination, it's about the journey."
Original article can be found here: http://www.heraldextra.com
ROTC cadet Jeremy Harmon checks the brakes during a preflight check on a Diamond Star Katana at the Spanish Fork airport on Friday, April 17, 2015.
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