Jake Alchin is graduating with his Aviation Management and Career Pilot degree from Craven Community College (Craven CC) this May and was just awarded a $200,000 scholarship from the Naval Reserves Officer Training Corps (NROTC) to attend the college of his choice.
The NROTC program sends candidates through officer training and pays for school costs so students can focus on their studies before beginning a career in the Navy. After graduation, students are committed to a 3-5 year service agreement and enter the Navy in a leadership position as a Commissioned Officer.
Chief Jonathan Schneider drove down from Navy Recruiting Station Raleigh to personally present Alchin with the check and to shake his hand.
“The Navy is looking forward to having Jake,” said Schneider. “He’s one of the ones the Navy wanted cause he’s going to be an asset. His overall package was good, his tests scores were great with high math scores, but the Navy looks at the whole package, they don’t focus on test scores, and he did great in high school and college and his involvement stood out and he was one of 80 people selected over a few thousand applicants.”
Alchin graduates May 10 with his AAS in Aviation Management and Career Pilot. He’s been accepted into the University of Arizona School of Engineering, and is tentatively accepted to Embry Riddle and Texas A&M. He will not get to walk the stage, however, because he’s been hired as a flight instructor at D2, the Flight Academy in New Bern, and is travelling to San Diego to teach Navy Personnel.
Jet fuel seems to run in Alchin’s blood, being raised around aircraft his whole life while his dad was a Marine Aviation Maintainer for 26 years, he’s always been fascinated with aviation. At 15, he had the opportunity to take the yoke of a Cessna 172 and has been flying ever since then.
After earning his Aerospace Engineering degree, Alchin aspires to be a Naval Aviator flying fighter jets and to continue his family’s legacy of service, following in his dad and grandfather’s footsteps. Alchin shared he originally didn’t get accepted for NROTC when he graduated from Havelock High (HHS) in 2022. He quipped that the “path to success is never a straight line,” and credited working with retired Marine Aviators, Bill Franchi, Mike McGhee, and Rusty Bell from Craven CC in mentoring and shaping him to be a better candidate for NROTC.
Alchin also thanked HHS guidance counselor Christi Mendes for her constant guidance and encouragement, as well for recommending this program for him.