At least two Republic Air Force Junior ROTC cadets have qualified for a national scholarship that will allow them to attend an accredited aviation university. Cadets Noah Tattershall and Nathanyal Hanson, both juniors, received the scholarships this year from Headquarters Air Force Junior ROTC, Maxwell Air Force Base, in Montgomery, Alabama. A third Republic cadet, Jonathan Willis, is an alternate.
The Republic ROTC program has enjoyed notable success in the program, with five students (six, if Willis ends up being chosen this year as an alternate) earning the scholarship over the past three years. In 2018, Noah Johnson received the honor, and he is currently at the US Air Force Academy as a sophomore. Cadets Taylon East and Allison Zahner, both seniors at Republic this year, received the scholarship a year ago.
Only 200 cadets receive the scholarship each year. More than 3,000 applied out of 120,000 high school students enrolled in Air Force Junior ROTC at about 900 high schools in the U.S. and overseas.
Lt. Col. Patrick Sanders, Senior Aerospace Science Instructor at Republic, said the winners have a few things in common.
“The cadets that are selected for this scholarship are very interested in aviation, have a high GPA, can think and solve problems under pressure, and are athletic,” he said. “The high school principal and I have to rate them in ten areas. The ones chosen are rated at the highest level in each category.”
Tattershall, one of this year’s recipients, said he’s been interested in flying since attending an air shot at Whiteman Air Force Base about ten years ago.
“Who wouldn’t want to be a pilot after seeing an F-16 rip across the sky? It was really something that just stuck with me,” Tattershall said. “What really appeals to me is that flying is something that a very limited amount of people get to do, much less for an occupation. I just think that being a pilot in the military would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Tattershall said the test he took during the application process was the hardest test he’s ever taken. “You just have an absurd amount of material and questions to go through in a very slim window of time,” he said.
Tattershall hopes to use his aviation training to become a jet or cargo pilot in the military. “Jets and cargo planes are my favorite style of aircraft, so having the opportunity to fly either of these airplanes would be the coolest thing ever,” he said.
Applicants had to be Air Force Junior ROTC cadets, at least 16 years of age, and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale. They also had to complete an online aviation qualification (AQT) test comprised of 5 sub-tests: math, table reading, aviation information, instrument comprehension, and weight perception.
The scholarship is valued at around $20,000. It covers transportation, room and board, academics and flight hours required to potentially earn a private pilot license. The Flight Academy Scholarship Program is an Air Force-level initiative in collaboration with the commercial aviation industry to address the national civilian and military pilot shortage.