{"id":19336,"date":"2017-05-02T12:57:36","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T16:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=19336"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:36:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:36:00","slug":"corbin-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=19336","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What I\u2019ve dreamed of doing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Next
Next week, Cordell Corbin will be taking two steps closer to his lifelong goal of being a pilot when he receives his commission on May 13 and then graduates from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in physics the following day. (photo by Jon Gardiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cordell Corbin\u2019s career plan all started in front of the television, watching re-enactments of World War II and Vietnam War air-to-air combat.<\/p>\n

Even though he was just in middle school, he set his goal then. He was going to become a military pilot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat provided the initial spark and then after that I was looking into it and I was messing around with flight simulators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next week, he will be taking two steps closer to his lifelong goal of being a pilot when he receives his commission on May 13 and then graduates from UNC’s College of Arts & Sciences with a degree in physics the following day.<\/p>\n

With his diploma in hand and a gold bar on his uniform, Corbin will go from a UNC Naval ROTC midshipman to a student naval aviator.<\/p>\n

Family business<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corbin considers Havelock, North Carolina, his home, but growing up in a military family, he moved a handful of times when he was young. Throughout his childhood, Corbin saw firsthand what it meant to serve his country. Both his father and uncle served in the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up learning a lot of the Navy-Marine Corps tradition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Serving in the military was never an expectation. He was, however, strongly encouraged to attend college. His parents had always encouraged Corbin to pursue his passions.<\/p>\n

His passion of aviation \u2014 inspired by documentaries on the History Channel \u2014 led Corbin to follow his father\u2019s footsteps into the family business. But instead of the Marines, Corbin chose the path of a naval aviator.<\/p>\n

Set on achieving his childhood dream and prepared with a charted path, Carolina became the first step to Corbin earning his wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to go to a military academy because I wanted to be able to live both lives \u2014 have a military side and also the civilian side too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Midshipman to student aviator<\/strong><\/p>\n

With his family still living in Havelock, Corbin knew he wanted to stay in North Carolina for college. The small, close-knit Naval ROTC unit drew him to UNC-Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n

At Carolina, Corbin balanced the demands of being a midshipman with his classwork as a physics major. The task was a challenge with extra military training, early morning physical training and mandatory unit duties in addition to his normal class schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are quite a bit of extra responsibilities and things you need to do, but it was definitely a good experience and good training for joining the military,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were several times I didn\u2019t think I would be making it through this physics degree. I\u2019m glad that I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the rigors of his daily schedule, Corbin quickly realized that he had made the right decision to join the Naval ROTC and head toward a career in the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of already knew I could do it \u2014\u00a0I knew what I was getting into,\u201d he said. \u201cMy time here just solidified that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entire time at Carolina, Corbin never faltered from his primary goal of becoming a pilot, and when it was time to fill out his service selection application, he knew exactly what he was going to apply for.<\/p>\n

Competing against midshipmen from ROTC units from across the country, Corbin submitted his application to flight school. Six months later, he learned that he had been accepted into the very selective program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great and it was definitely a relief,\u201d he said. \u201cI was ecstatic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before he can begin his two-year stint at flight school, Corbin will be closing out his time at Carolina with a big weekend \u2014 and a wedding at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

When Corbin receives his commission as an ensign, his father, now a retired Marine master sergeant, will be the first to salute the new officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be great,\u201d Corbin said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his commission and degree complete, Corbin is ready to for the next step in his childhood dream: climbing into the cockpit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot of fun,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be what I\u2019ve dreamed of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story by Brandon Bieltz and photo by Jon Gardiner, University Communications<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cordell Corbin\u2019s career plan all started in front of the television, watching re-enactments of World War II and Vietnam War air-to-air combat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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