Email   Print   Share By Heather Graham, Sentinel News Editor

Facebook Digg Delicious July 29, 2010 | Living

As a casualty assistance officer, Jack Howell saw the pain of losing a servicemember.

“I’m dedicated to trying to do something for these kids,” he said. “The kids are often overlooked.”

Howell, a retired Marine colonel, started Teens-in-Flight in 1994 as a high school program to help at-risk children in Jacksonville, Fla.

The program has since expanded to Gold Star children and the children of severely wounded warriors. With a program established at Fort Carson, Colo., Howell is now looking to expand to Fort Hood.

Under Teens-in-Flight, selected teens are offered flight and classroom lessons and the opportunity to receive their private pilot’s license at no charge to their families.

“This gives these kids something they never thought in a million years they could do,” Howell said. “It’s unique because it’s all free.”

Howell has partnered with a flight school in Austin to provide the training. Now, he needs five teens who can meet the eligibility.

The program eligibility requirements are a 1,000-word essay on “Why I want to Fly,” age 13 and older with 2.5 grade-point average or higher, interview, drug screening and recommendation from school principal/superintendent.

Scholarship Selection priorities include a parent killed in action in the Global War on Terrorism, parent wounded and severely disabled in Global War on Terrorism, low-income families and those considered “at risk.”

Fort Hood Child, Youth and School Services and Survivor Outreach Services are on board with the program.

For more information about the program, visit the website at www.teens-in-flight.com or call CYSS at 287-8029.