Landon A. Ward

Landon A. Ward is a Senior at Spanish Fort High School and is applying to numerous Service Academy Nominations in hopes and prayers of increasing his chances of acceptance to the United States Air Force Academy. From as early as 2 years old, he has demonstrated a fascination and love for aviation and a desire to be a pilot. His broad interest in all things aviation culminated in a greater desire to serve in the United States Air Force as a pilot with a degree in aerospace engineering after living on two military bases with his family of Army Veteran parents - that being Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Hill Air Force base in Utah -, a brother who served in the United States Marine Corps, and a plethora of military veteran relatives from all branches and wartime conflicts.

Landon's chosen path to success was seeking leadership and community service roles within his JROTC program and the local community, enrolling in the AP Capstone Program offered by his school, and excelling in academics. He is part of the AL-935 Distinguished Unit with Merit AFJROTC program at Daphne High School in Baldwin County, Alabama, and for the first semester of his senior year is the Corps Commander of this unit. Throughout his JROTC career, he has participated in nearly all of what has been offered at his program, including various teams such as Drill Team and Raiders Team (with Argonaut and Orienteering being a subset of that team), as well as obtained leading positions such as Flight Commander, NCA (New Cadet Academy) vice-commander and commander, Special teams vice commander and commander, and most recently Corps Commander, the highest achievable position in any JROTC unit. In these positions (as well as outside them), Landon leads cadets in everyday activities and out-of-school events, and serves as a role model for cadets to depend on, look up to, and be accepted, all while pointing his own successes and positive attributes to the Lord to the best of his ability. In his academics, he has maintained at least an A average in nearly all of his classes (AP World History may have been quite challenging), and enrolls in classes of the highest academic difficulty. He has completed and passed 7 AP courses so far - with scores of one 3, five 4's, and one 5 -, and is to complete 5 more by the end of his senior year. He has also earned 8 hours of college credits in aviation ground school and flight training at Delta State University, also passing with an A+.

He has a variety of interests and hobbies: music (with his favorite instruments being piano and cello), church and church choir attendance, physical activity, soccer, nature activities, traveling, studying German, reading, and spending quality time with his family, friends, and two cats. In 2023, he was given the great opportunity and blessing to attend the SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) engineer summer camp in Vicksburg Mississippi with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, further solidifying his interest in the military and civilian engineering field, and even earned a team leadership award during this one-week opportunity! More recently (and excitingly), he has completed the AFJROTC Flight Academy program, earning his private pilot license within a time frame of 8 weeks, fulfilling his dream of becoming a pilot far earlier than expected. This incredible scholarship, paid for via the Air Force, was applied to by roughly 1250 AFJROTC cadets, with only roughly 200 being given a guaranteed slot to partake in this, with Landon being one of those cadets. Furthermore, only 5 cadets in the state of Alabama were selected for this program, with him also being one of those 5. Because of this achievement, he believes that it will greatly increase his chances of getting accepted by the Air Force Academy - his primary school of interest and passageway into the Air Force -, receiving a pilot slot early in his Air Force career, and maintaining a safe and effective career as a pilot.

• AL-935 AFJROTC Unit Corps Commander
• 2024 AFJROTC Flight Academy Graduate
• Earned Private Pilots License
• 95th percentile in nationwide JROTC Fitness Test - 2024
• The National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program award - 2024
• Reserve Organization of America Award- 2024
• The Enlisted Association Award of Merit - 2022
• Leadership Development Ribbon - 2024
• Total 167 Service hours through JROTC
• 30+ ACT Club in School
• National Honor Society Member