I Believed I Could Fly: Becoming a Pilot

By Army 1st Lt. J. David Toguchi

I thought about becoming a pilot when I was ten years old. I lived on Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii and I used to watch helicopters takeoff every day. Watching them takeoff was so amazing to me and it inspired me to become an Army pilot.

Overall, my greatest hurdle about reaching this goal was my self-perception. Often times we allow grades and numbers to determine our value and self-worth. An “+A grade” meant you were smart and had value, while a “C grade” meant you had little potential for prominence. One of my greatest struggles was overcoming this staged self-perception.

For most students in school growing up, if it took them an hour to read the assigned homework, it often required me two hours to read the same material. Due to my limited attention span, I realized that I needed to put in double the time and effort just to get through the same learning material. I learned early on if I was going to have any chance to reach my goals, I needed to work harder than those around me. I told myself it was better to give my best effort and fail than to never try at all. My hope was that when it was all said and done, whether I became a pilot or not, I could look myself in the mirror and say I gave my best.

For the aforementioned reasons, doing well in school was one of my most prevalent hurdles growing up and it was easy to think my grades would hinder me from reaching my dreams. I often found myself struggling to pay attention in class, which reflected in my grades. Although my grades were far from what was expected of me, I did not let that discourage me from striving for my dreams.

Although unconventional, I made a vision board listing my goals in order to stay focused on my dreams. Whenever I did not have the motivation for studying, I would look at my vision board to remind me of why I am in school and remember what it was like when I was ten years old watching the helicopters take off in Hawaii. There would be late nights in the college library where I wanted to give up because I would have a hard time focusing on writing essays or studying for an exam; but when I would search helicopter videos from a cockpit point of view and imagine myself as the pilot, I remained motivated to keep writing or studying.

I had three main goals on my vision board that I wished to accomplish: graduate with a 3.6 GPA, become an Army aviator, and become debt free. I knew aviation would be a difficult branch to get into but I also knew I had the drive and determination to reach this goal. I knew all of my hard work paid off when I received a three-year Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) academic scholarship.

During ROTC, everyone is rated based on a point system called the order of merit list (OML). Each cadet was ranked based on their OML which included grades, physical fitness, and extracurricular activities. In order to do well on the OML, I needed to strive in these areas. I pushed myself physically and mentally to get good grades and do well on my physical fitness tests. It was not an easy battle, but it was all worth it in the end. I graduated from East Carolina University in 2019 and was commissioned into the active duty Army in the Aviation branch. Reaching my ultimate goal of becoming a pilot was coming true!

Shortly after my college graduation I was enrolled in flight school at Fort Rucker. One thing I learned at flight school was the amount of studying required to become a pilot. All the hard work I put in during college was only the beginning to my flying career in the Army. After a few weeks into flight school, I knew I wanted to be a Chinook pilot. While it was difficult learning the material at flight school, I enjoyed learning it because my life was beginning to play out the way I had dreamed for so long. Another eye-opening moment was seeing how many friendships I would develop along the way.

One friendship in particular grew into something very special. I met my wife Abigail, on the first day of flight school. I did not think much of our initial interaction, except that she gave me the cold shoulder, which I now accredit to her introverted personality. The following morning my flight school class met for physical fitness training early in the morning. We were tasked with a three mile run, an event I took pride in, but was quickly put to shame after Abigail over took me on the run and finished first. She caught my eye ever since that day.

Eventually, Abigail warmed up to me and we discovered just how much we had in common. We attended church weekly, studied together, had deep spiritual discussions, and fell in love. We got married May 28, 2021 on a humble farm surrounded by the stunning pine trees of North Carolina. It is such a joy to share the skies with my wonderful wife. Abigail is a Blackhawk pilot and I am a Chinook pilot.

To this day, the experience and rush I receive every time I start the engines of the helicopter make me grateful for the extra hours I put in to get good grades and focus on the dreams I set for myself as a kid.

I feel both grateful and humble to be a pilot today. For one, I am extremely grateful to be in the fortunate position to touch the skies, but at the same time I am humbled by the constant requirement to learn and get better. I know that learning is never done, and I strive each day to be better than the last.

I would tell young people to not give up on their dreams to become a pilot. So often as adults we give up on our childhood dreams because of self-doubt or lack of confidence in our abilities to do something great. Do not let self-doubt hold you back from reaching your dreams! Learn to put in the hard work and make your dreams a reality. Another important thing to remember is that you do not have to go through this journey alone. I had an amazing support system including family and friends, cheering me on to reach my goals and never give up.

LT J. David Toguchi is currently serving as the 3rd Platoon Leader of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB) at Hunter Army Airfield, GA.