On February 22, Nathan Welch of Seal Beach graduated Flight School with the United States Air Force. Welch, a 2006 Los Alamitos High School graduate and son of Greg and Barbara Welch, has been assigned to the E-3 Sentry AWACS Command and Control Platform. He will move to Tinker Air Force Base located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for his first assignment.
Second Lieutenant Welch began his flying career at the age of 15. He soloed at 16 and followed that with his Private Pilot’s License at Long Beach Airport. He decided flying was what he wanted to do and followed his dream after he was accepted into the top aviation school in the country at Purdue University. Purdue is famous for its early support of Amelia Earhart and it’s now 22 graduates who have become astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, both of which Nathan has had the pleasure of meeting. Welch finished his Purdue education with numerous awards, including Homecoming King, and was asked by Purdue’s President to be class speaker at his commencement.
Welch’s commitment to service has been ever-present in his life. He earned the Rank of Eagle Scout from Los Alamitos’s Troop 658 and was a Seal Beach Leo. Even though he rarely spoke of it, Welch’s ultimate dream was serving his country in the Air Force. The love for the Air Force was instilled through his grandfather, who served as on B-25’s during WWII in Europe and Northern Africa. Welch tried for years to overcome a color vision problem that barred him from becoming a military aviator. During his sophomore year at Purdue, he did just that. Welch was finally able to apply for a flight slot with the Air Force and was then selected #2 out of 34 in his pool of Officer Candidates was accepted to Officer Training School, a position that less than 10% of applicants reach.
A few months after graduation in November, Welch left for Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama for 13 weeks of Officer Training School. Following his commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant, he reported to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida for nine months of flight training, followed by survival training in Eastern Washington. While in Florida, Nathan proposed to his college girlfriend, Amanda Sharpell, of Escondido, CA and the two were married on April 14, of this year, in Fullerton. They have made their first home together in a suburb north of Oklahoma City, near Tinker Air Force Base.