The right high school skills and a determined work ethic have prepared a local student’s Army repair career for a quick takeoff. R.J. Paski’s focused education at the Pickering campus of Technical College High School in Phoenixville and a 2011 enlistment in the U.S. Army’s helicopter electrical systems track produced a top-of-the-class result at the Army’s Advanced Individual Training, followed by years of rank advancement.

“The training was a direct tie-in with what I learned in school,” he said in a TCHS press release “You get a little bit of mentoring, but your prior education is the majority of your learning. Even today, I continually use the skills and knowledge I learned in school, and I’m one of the best in my unit because of it.”

The Apache helicopter repairman has become keen on testing and fixing the attack chopper’s wiring, weapons system and sensors.

“For every one hour of flight time that a helicopter puts in,” he said, “it needs about eight hours of maintenance.”

The Army specialist now faces an imminent second deployment to Afghanistan and looks forward to future career options as an aspiring officer and helicopter pilot, among others.

Read more about Paski’s story and comments from his mother on the TCHS website here.