Photo By 2nd Lt. Cassandra Bych | Jakob Stone, Midwestern State University soccer player and U.S. Air Force Academy...... read more read more
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SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – 2nd Lt. Jakob Stone never thought he’d be living out more than one dream – but now he’s doing just that, in an unexpected way.
“Growing up, it had always been my dream to become a fighter pilot,” said Stone, a Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) student. “But I was also passionate about playing soccer.”
From an early age, Stone was fascinated with aviation. “I was often attending air shows and going to the airport to watch the small bush planes as they flew out to remote regions of Alaska,” recalled Stone.
In addition to his passion for flying, he developed a love for soccer. In eighth grade, Stone moved away from his hometown of Anchorage, AK to enroll in Portland Timber Academy, the first of multiple soccer academies for Stone. At the end of his junior year of high school, he was recruited by the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Division I men’s soccer team, the Falcons.
As a cadet at the Academy, Stone participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. He played four years of soccer with the Falcons, helping the team to a regular season conference win in 2022. While athletics took up much of his free time, Stone worked to incorporate aviation-related hobbies into his life.
He took part in two USAFA airmanship programs: “Soaring”, where cadets receive their first experience in a flying environment in the largest glider operation in the world, and “Jump”, where cadets can complete five freefall skydives without assistance and earn their USAF Parachutist Badge.
Once Stone earned a pilot training slot, he was subsequently selected for ENJJPT, the competitive and rigorous Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) program that is manned and managed by 14 NATO partner nations in the interest of producing fighter pilots for NATO.
Participants of this program require a warrior mindset and the ability to work cohesively with a team to succeed, similar to a collegiate athletic program.
Stone decided to continue his soccer career to build up those skills before starting ENJJPT. He worked with USAFA’s compliance office to place his name in the transfer portal, or the online database for athletes who desire to transfer schools. This piqued the interest of Midwestern State University men’s soccer head coach Michael Meachum, who was searching for a goalkeeper for his team. From there, the recruitment process began.
Just 10 miles from Sheppard Air Force Base, where ENJJPT is located, MSU offered Stone the opportunity to pursue his master’s degree in business administration and play soccer for the Mustangs’ NCAA Division II team while awaiting UPT.
“Looking back now, I never would have expected my life to turn out this way,” said Stone. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve been afforded that led me here today.”
The Mustangs have begun conference play in the Lone Star Conference with games scheduled to last until November. Stone is projected to start UPT at ENJJPT in May of 2025.
What’s Stone’s advice for others looking to pursue their passions? “Seek out every opportunity made available and work hard in everything you do.”
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.08.2024 17:22 |
| Story ID: | 482781 |
| Location: | WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 195 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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