Sheppard student pilot reconciles two identities, one career

by Airman 1st Class Jelani Gibson
82nd Training Wing Public Affairs

1/24/2014 - SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean, jets streaked across the azure sky, captivating the imagination of a boy who would grow up to face two lives and one dream.

2nd Lt. Abraham Morland, an 80th Flying Training Wing Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training student pilot, held dual citizenship in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was born to British parents while they were in Tulsa, Okla., his father working as a flight simulator technician.

With aviation in his blood, Morland always had his mind focused on taking to the skies. When it came time to decide how he wanted to pursue his dream of flying, he had to look within his soul and ask what flag he wanted to Velcro to his flight suit--the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack.

"All I've really wanted to do was to fly," he said. "It was a dream and love of mine. I can't see myself serving anywhere else."

Morland said the pull of flying was constantly beckoning him, even at a young age. Returning to his parent's homeland, he took to the skies as an 11-year-old boy with the Air Training Corps, the British equivalent to the Civil Air Patrol. During his freshman year of high school, he went on a two-week field trip to the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, England. There he shadowed the flight crews, security forces, civil engineers and aircraft maintenance Airmen, experiencing an Air Force life.

But, it was watching the KC-135 Stratotankers and the C-130 Hercules gliding through the skies that stirred a fire in his belly. It was there the inner struggle of deciding which flag to fly under gained a lot of momentum for the Stars and Stripes.

"My real love was America, I wanted to come back home to the states and join the U.S. Air Force," he said.

As a result, his parents moved back to the United Sates so their son could pursue his dream of becoming a pilot. He enlisted in the Air Force as a personnel apprentice and reported to his first duty station at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and spent the next three years trying to get into the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"I thought that was the only way I could become an Air Force pilot," he said. "My grades were okay, but I didn't have high enough (aptitude test) scores."

Having a strong Christian faith, Morland "gave it all to God" in his pursuit to becoming a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He tried and failed for five years to get into the academy. After his final rejection, he took the advice of his commander and attended the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Angelo State University, Texas.

'"What's the worst that could happen,'" his commander told him.

He knew from the moment he was accepted he wanted to fly a "heavy" aircraft, as memories from his high school experience at Mildenhall rang fresh in his mind's eye. He was accepted to pilot training at Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program in October 2012.

"They told me I had to give up my British citizenship," Morland said. "All of my family lives over in England, so it was hard to say, 'I will denounce the Queen.' It wasn't hard for me to say I will be loyal to America."

Now in training at ENJJPT, he is in the first phase of flight training with the T-6 Texan II. Operated by the 80th Flying Training Wing, ENJJPT is the world's only multi-nationally manned and managed flying training program chartered to produce combat pilots for NATO. Throughout all of the difficulties in his road to flight school, the lessons of perseverance is not lost on the 24-year-old lieutenant.

"Do not give up," he said. "Days are going to get tough. We all go through challenges. I had good supervisors encouraging me every step of the way."

Having reached the starting point of his dream, he is enthusiastic and optimistic about the goal that took him so long to achieve.

"It was tough, but encouraging," he said. "This is what I want to do."

As he competes on a global scale against other hand-chosen candidates, he is confident in his ability and looking forward to influencing others in the Air Force.

"I want to be able to help people go for their dreams," he said. "We're a big team, we need each other."

Now that Morland has begun his career as a pilot, he has entered a place where he can finally fulfill his dream of flying. His original dream of flying the heavies might have morphed a little into flying a fighter, but he doesn't really care, as long as he's flying high.

"I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to fly the latest and greatest," he said.