Grissom aviator epitomizes flying diversity

Published Feb. 22, 2017
By Senior Airman Harrison Withrow
434 ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- From loading to flying, from fixed wing to rotary wing, and propeller to turbine, one Grissom aviator has done it all.

Capt. Johnathon McCashland, 434th Air Refueling Wing deputy director of inspections, knew early on in life he wanted to be an Air Force pilot. The path to achieving that goal, however, was not your typical path.

“Sometimes in life, you don’t always have the path you want, but if you persevere, you can take a different route and still get where you want to go,” said McCashland.

In 1998 McCashland enlisted in the Air Force as a loadmaster, and advanced quickly as he made senior airman below-the-zone followed by staff sergeant on his first attempt.

“Along the way I had an officer come grab me and say, ‘hey, I think you’d be a good candidate for the Air Force Academy,’” said McCashland. “From there I went to the academy prep school.”

While in the prep school, he joined the intercollegiate football team as a wide receiver but during the second to last game of the season when he severely injured his shoulder.

“At that point I was too old to delay going into the academy, so I had to make a decision,” he said. “I could either try to go to officer training school with a bum shoulder, or I could go back enlisted and have surgery to get it fixed.

“That was when I really started to take a look at my life,” he said. “I thought, I’ve always wanted to be an Air Force pilot since I was a little kid. How am I going to do that?”

Despite previous setbacks, he was still determined to make that dream a reality.

McCashland became a C-130 loadmaster with the 71st Rescue Squadron at Moody AFB, Georgia, a unit which deployed very frequently, he said. Those deployments offered McCashland an opportunity to work on his education.

During that time, McCashland finished school and earned a private pilot’s license, while volunteering as a firefighter.

“The people I met in the rescue community and the impression I made on my commander got me a job interview to fly HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters with the California Air National Guard Combat Search and Rescue,” he said. “I never thought in a million years I’d be flying helicopters. The Air Force is supposed to fly jets!

“After seeing the impact those folks had, though, I knew it was a good fit for me,” he added.

McCashland’s dreams of flying would once again be set back when an electrocardiogram test indicated that he had a hole in his heart.

“It was terrible,” he said. “I was finally going to be a pilot, and in an instant it all came crashing down.”

Determined to exhaust every possible option, McCashland received a second opinion that revealed his heart was in good condition.

“They cleared me to fly, and suddenly I was right back on track,” he said. “I wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and it worked out for me.”

In 2011, McCashland signed on with a manufacturing company as a process engineer. Rather than fly to California several times a month, he began looking for a reserve position in the local area.

He first interviewed at McConnell AFB, Kansas and was offered a job there. However, he did not immediately accept.

“I don’t know what made me do this, but I told them I wanted to think it over for a few days and make sure this was the right decision for me,” he said. “As I was walking out the door, I got a call from Grissom asking if I could be there for an interview tomorrow.”

McCashland had grown up in Indiana, and was familiar with the base as a child, he said.

“Every year, when I was a kid, my family would drive up U.S. 31 to South Bend to visit my mom’s family,” said McCashland. “When we’d drive by Grissom she’d wake me up and say, ‘hey look, there’s Grissom, there’s the runway!’”

After interviewing at Grissom, McCashland was offered a position and immediately accepted.

“I never thought I’d end up flying here,” the Richmond, Indiana native said. “It was so surreal, I must have laughed the entire first flight.

“I think no matter where you go, your heart always takes you home,” he added. “That’s what happened with me. I’m home.”

Since coming to Grissom, McCashland has been asked frequently to speak to the Development and Training Flight, a program for new recruits that helps them prepare for basic military training. Senior Master Sgt. Linda Mason-Wilson, former director of the Grissom DNTF program, felt that McCashland was an excellent example for young airmen on what they could achieve with their Air Force careers.

“I chose him because he really cares about the enlisted folks,” said Mason-Wilson. “He makes himself available to mentor them and help them reach their goals, because he remembers the people who did it for him.

“I relied on him to show the recruits that there is a future for them in the Air Force,” she added. “If they want to pursue their education, maybe even become an officer someday, those opportunities are there for them.”

“I tell them my story, not because I want them to go ‘wow, look at you,’ but I want them to realize that they can do it too,” said McCashland. “I’m not anything special, really. I just grew up with a dream. If they work hard and do the right things, they can achieve their dreams, too.”

In June he will mark 19 years of service.

“It’s been a blink of an eye, and I wouldn’t change anything,” he said. “I’ve learned so much, and met so many incredible people. I don’t know where my journey is going to take me next, but it’s been a heck of a ride.”

The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Men and women from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.

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Grissom aviator epitomizes flying diversity

Public Affairs Staff