TAMPA, Fla. — Two Hillsborough County sisters are flying high thanks to a unique scholarship, the Air Force JROTC Flight Academy Scholarship. The scholarship covers all expenses, and at the end, students earn their private pilot’s license.

What You Need To Know

  • The Air Force JROTC Flight Academy Scholarship is anywhere from $16-$18,000 

  • The scholarship covers all expenses to earn private pilot license

Sisters Gabriela and Nicole Garcia first heard about the scholarship when going on their Cadet Orientation Flights, a program run by the Civil Air Patrol. On these flights, Cadets and JROTC students between the ages of 12 and 17 are taken up to 2,500 feet in a plane, then given an opportunity to see what it’s like to fly. 

“I think it’s inspiring for them. It gives them a chance to learn and do some things. I’ve had a number of cadets, actually quite a few of them, go on to the Air Force committee. So we try to inspire, it’s not for all, but the ones who have a knack for it, it’s a good springboard to get them started,” said Major Dan Klein, a mission pilot.

“The plane we’re looking at today looks like a Cessna G1000. It has 3 wheels, 2 flaps, it looks like a basic plane like I was training in over the summer,” said Gabriela Garcia, who at 17 years old earned her private pilot’s license.

Her sister, Nicole, also earned hers, and the girls share what a standard flight check covers.

“These are called G1000 systems. You have your primary flight display; this is the main one you’re looking at,” said Nicole Garcia.

The girls both received the Air Force JROTC Flight Academy Scholarship. It’s for upwards of $17,000 and covers every expense new pilots incur when going for their private pilot license.

Nicole, who’s 20, received the scholarship first. She says as a kid, she never dreamed she would be a pilot. “Not until my sophomore year of high school, actually. It was at this exact airport, in one of these planes, that I took my discovery flight and that’s when I knew that I wanted to do this for the rest of my career. Just being up there, and looking at the world from a view up there, is amazing and I just know I want that to be my future office,” she said.

Once she discovered her love for aviation, she encouraged her sister, Gabriela, who is a senior at Jefferson High School this year, to go for the scholarship, too.

“It’s an amazing experience. I made wonderful friends. I got to live in a different state for two months and now I have a wider knowledge of things that I didn’t know before. It’s pretty amazing to leave there with a private pilot’s license,” said Gabriela.

Currently, women make up less than 7% of pilots, and minorities less than 12%. Gabriela and Nicole hope they can help change those stats. 

“I’m very proud of us and we’re the only pilots in our family currently and knowing we can help someone else do something as amazing as this, it just makes me happy we’re doing that,” said Nicole.

The girls hope that by sharing their love for flying, they encourage other young women to dream big, and fly high.

The Air Force JROTC Flight Academy Scholarship program is a collaborative effort between the aerospace industry and the Air Force to help address the national pilot shortage. Right now, Boeing predicts an annual need to hire 6,000 civilian pilots a year for the next 20 years.