For years, Thomas Reid has dedicated himself to a career in aviation. Flying first caught his attention in high school and led him to his current career as a military pilot in the US Army. Although he already has plenty of flying experience, Reid wants a Bachelor of Science Aviation Science - Professional Pilot, to expand his skill set and prepare for a future outside of the military
As a Central Texas College student stationed at Fort Hood, that goal made transferring to Texas A&M University- Central Texas a natural next step.
Reid had already spent a short time at A&M-Central Texas before electing to complete flight school at CTC first. This turned out to be an excellent—and time-saving—idea. The aviation ratings and course credits he earned there were direct transfer toward his bachelor’s degree:
“It was like 42 credits that I got from flight school alone,” he said.
After completing his flight school and securing his ratings at CTC, Reid wanted go back to A&M-Central Texas. But, there was an obstacle: Reid was stationed in Korea. Finding himself an ocean away, Reid was unable to visit the campus in-person. Despite this, transferring online turned out to be simple: He said he used the university’s Warrior Web student portal, and found it helpful during the entire process.
“It’s nice to have everything centralized in the Warrior Web… I’ve dealt with other campus’ systems, and they’ve tried to do kind of the same thing… At A&M, I pretty much do it all on my own, and it’s really easy. … After transferring everything to A&M, everything has been smooth sailing.”
Reid has gained experience and insight from his baccalaureate work. Nevertheless, it is important never to stop growing, he said, and he shows no signs of it. His ambitions continue to reach new heights (pun intended).
“I intend on leaving the Army once my service obligation is up and move on to flying for an airline. I'm hoping my professional pilot bachelor's will give me a leg up in getting into an airline, be it regional or major,” he said.