JULY 16, 2024 — UTSA is hosting a dozen students who are enrolled in a free Air Force-sponsored program that inspires young people to explore careers in aviation. The AIM High Flight Academy offers students a chance to receive personalized training from the U.S. Air Force and certified flight instructors.
“Hosting the AIM HIGH Flight Academy allows us to showcase UTSA and our programs to a group of prospective students while also raising the university’s profile,” said Chris Combs, the Dee Howard Memorial Endowed Faculty Fellow in the UTSA Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering Program director.
The flight academy is part of the Air Force Air Education and Training Command (AETC), which is headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. San Antonio International Airport (SAT) facilitates agreements between the AETC programs and participating universities. This is the first year UTSA has participated.
“Working with Dr. Combs and UTSA, we can introduce the next generation of flyers to the possibilities available should they choose a career in aviation.”
“It only makes sense that we host this at UTSA,” Combs said. “We have the relationships with SAT and with AETC being run locally, it is our hope that this will become an annual activity.”
The AETC selected 12 students from around the country to embark on this transformative journey at UTSA.
“This year, we selected over 250 high school students to attend one of our nine partner universities across the U.S.,” said Major Bobby Malesra, commander, Air Force Recruiting Service, Detachment 1. “And adding a strategic local partner like UTSA only strengthens our ties to the San Antonio community.”
The UTSA participants are staying on campus and are transported to the city-owned Stinson-Mission Municipal Airport for training. They will participate in classroom instruction, simulator training and flight training. By the end of the program, the students will earn up to 15 flight hours, which is a solid foundation for an aviation career.
“San Antonio has a rich aviation culture thanks in no small part to the thousands of Air Force personnel who train in San Antonio every year,” said Eric Warner, senior government and military affairs specialist at the City of San Antonio Aviation Department. “Working with Dr. Combs and UTSA, we can introduce the next generation of flyers to the possibilities available should they choose a career in aviation.”
