Fear of Flying
How an airman got his wings
BY ALEX JONES
When Nick Stevenson decided to join the United States Air Force, he was 21 years old, working three jobs and studying full time at the University of South Carolina. Like many people his age, he was struggling to pay for college without going into debt, and going into the military was the best option.
“I joined the Air Force because they have the best jobs that can transfer over to civilian life,” Stevenson says. “They build upon the skills that I was already learning in my classes.” So he put his education on hold and enlisted in the Air Force.
“Leaving for basic training was exciting yet frightening,” Stevenson recalls. “I didn’t know anyone who went into the military before, so I didn’t know what to expect.” The prospect of the unknown and seeing new places was terrifying yet exhilarating for Stevenson as he left behind his friends and family in Florence, S.C., for Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.
One thing that Stevenson didn’t expect was the high stress that’s involved with basic training. In all branches of the military, basic training is designed to push enlistees to their emotional, mental and physical limits in order to see if they’re capable of going into combat. “In basic training, you got to see how high stress impacts people,” says Stevenson. “I saw people sleepwalk and repeat this quote we had to memorize over and over in their sleep.”
The intent of basic training is to prepare airmen for combat situations and to help them overcome their fears. Ironically enough, Stevenson joined the Air Force despite his intense fear of heights.
“Even though I’m afraid of heights, one of my favorite memories of the Air Force was sitting in the cockpit of a C-17. The physics of it is amazing—how a plane so large can fly so fast,” he recalls. C-17 aircrafts are specially designed for the military to transport troops and cargo around the world.
Stevenson was able to evade getting deployed to the Middle East when the government shut down in October 2013. Afterwards, he suffered a knee injury that disqualified him for deployment even after the government shutdown. Finally, it seemed that his luck was turning around when he received orders that he was going to be stationed at the Air Force Base in Charleston, SC. Returning to his home state put him one step closer to his homecoming.
“It felt great to come back [to South Carolina],” Stevenson remembers. “I had never been that far inland [as I was in Texas], and it felt weird.” Now, three years later, Stevenson is 24 years old and still resides in Charleston. “For me, the toughest challenge coming back was adjusting to the freedom I had,” he laughs. “I went from having a completely structured life to having little to no structure at all.”
Serving as an aircraft mechanic for three years, Stevenson was able to find an internship at Boeing as he finishes his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science at the College of Charleston, which he started at the University of South Carolina before he enlisted. He also works full-time as a manager at Quick Foxes food delivery service.
“After I got out, the Air Force helped me a lot to find a job in my skill set. It wasn’t hard to find employment after military life,” Stevenson explains. “In addition to the services that the Air Force provides, there are a lot of external resources like usa.gov, and a lot of companies look for veterans as well."
Nick Stevenson