Career Research Paper

Jon Petrik
Mrs. Polesiak
English 9 period 2
9th May, 2006
Career Research Paper
What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s one of those questions that everyone always asks, but no one is ever exactly sure. What we do for a living depends on many different factors. I am about to tell you the general idea of a job I am looking for a possible future in. When I “grow up”, I believe I would be a good Air Force pilot because I might go to Air Force Academy, I am good at math, I can make quick decisions, I am a good communicator, I can fill a leadership role when needed, and I love airplanes.
When I graduate from high school, I am seriously considering going to Air Force Academy to continue my education. They have a very good program there and it would go a long way to further my career. One thing about going to a military college is the amount of discipline. Discipline is not one of my strong points. I am constantly late with and forgetting my homework. To become a pilot you must achieve the rank of officer. Anyone who attends Air Force Academy is granted this rank upon graduation. They also have an ample amount of interesting classes and extra curricular activities. Although not the best, the football team is pretty good along with many of the other sports teams. Many of the classes there will help the students that wish to go into service after their college education is complete. Math is one of the most important subjects for a fighter pilot as they must constantly be solving equations for firing solutions and the like.
When its comes to flying a plane there are many important calculations. You must make calculations in both combat and simple navigation. When firing a missile you must know at what distance form the target to fire the missile based on speed, altitude, wind direction and a number of other factors. When it comes to navigation you must know if you have enough altitude for certain maneuvers based on environmental conditions. If you are planning on becoming a pilot of any type you should take advanced math in high school and college and maybe even double up a couple of years, but just because you’re a math wiz doesn’t mean you’re fit to be a pilot, you also need to be able to make split second decisions while under enormous pressure.
Imagine you are flying along when all of a sudden your radar shows two unidentified fighters coming in your direction. Do you shoot first, turn tail and flee, or wait and see what happens? These are the decisions a fighter pilot must make without any warning at all. When it comes to decision making under pressure, that is one area that I have a moderate amount of skill in. Sometimes you may come across a situation you have never experienced before. You will then be forced to improvise. One example of this is the man who invented the move in Top Gun where he pulls up and engages the air brakes while the other plane overshoots him. Also, a pilot rarely flies solo and will need to be able to inform others about new conditions while in the air.
Communication is essential between wing mates while in the air. It must be short and apparent. You do not have 30 seconds to tell your buddy there is a missile flying at him or that you just picked up two new contacts. If you can’t keep your messages clear and concise it may cause the death of you and/or your wing mates. I am usually very good at getting the point across very clearly with very words. To help shorten these communications. Some of them are bogey, point, and AA. To help with identifying the direction in relation to the plane they use the numbers on a clock, twelve being strait ahead and 6 at the rear. One of the people who must have some of the best communication skills is the wing leader.
Leadership is the main reason this country is still operating as one entity. Without a leader people have a tendency to drift towards entropy, disorder, and chaos. If you are going to protect your country you cant be flying around like a bunch if chickens with your heads cut off. You must be able to lead and make to tough decision, and be willing to accept responsibility for you actions and not try to pin it on someone higher or lower than you. You have to have all of the previous qualities I have mentioned to be able to be a good wing leader. You have to be prepared for the intense and often violent nature if this profession. You will have to carry out many tasks like escort missions, defense, and maybe even bombing of enemy or civilian targets (Fighter Pilot: What They Do par. 1-3). If you cannot handle something this intense and maintain a good sense of leadership, then this is not the job for you. I also suggest that you really like airplanes as it will make you job so much more enjoyable.
I personally have a great love for airplanes which is why I am so interested in this career. I enjoy playing video games in which you are a pilot and you are in control of the plane. Two such games are Microsoft Flight Combat Simulator and Ace Combat 04. I have also spent much of my time studying the different planes. Some of my favorites are the F-117 Lockheed/Martin Nighthawk, which was our first successful stealth fighter and the P-51D Mustang which was probably the most famous aircraft of World War II. It would be very beneficial for a pilot to have a broad knowledge of many types of aircraft so that he would know the weaknesses and strengths of his fighter versus his enemies and if he is outmatched like the American P-40 Warhawk was by the Japanese Zero in WW II (Curtis P-40 Warhawk par. 1 & Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero-Sen par. 1).

When I “grow up”, I believe I would be a good Air Force pilot because I might go to Air Force Academy, I am good at math, I can make quick decisions, I am a good communicator, I can fill a leadership role when needed, and I love airplanes. I believe all of these trait would make me a proficient pilot and a very likely career choice for me. Fighter pilots only make about $120,000 a year but it is a job serving my country and it is stable with little chance if getting fired (Fighter Pilot: Salary & Outlook par. 3&4). There are many career choices out there, and even though I did my report on an Air Force pilot it might not be what I was meant to do. I just hope that I end up with a job that I enjoy and that can sustain my lifestyle.