Eric Hutchinson walked into a Dairy Queen in Hillsboro, Ore., in 1987 humming the “Marine Hymn.” Only 5 years old, he already knew what he wanted to do in life.

On Monday, Sgt. Hutchinson and the rest of the crew of a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, did their best to inspire the next generation of Marines at an aviation career day at Valley Christian Academy in Santa Maria.

In addition to the helicopter, which landed on the VCA football field, an F/A-18 Super Hornet from Lemoore Naval Air Station, piloted by Lt. Wes Kennerly, buzzed the school.

Hutchinson grew up on an Oregon farm and worked his way onto “the Moonlighters” crew the hard way. He said he held about seven different jobs before earning a place as one of two crew chiefs assigned to the copter. He was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and served on one of the aircraft that participated in the well-publicized rescue mission of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital.

Like his crew chief, pilot Lt. Col. Marcus Malais said he was almost born to be a military officer. His father was an Air Force officer and, as a student, Malais focused his education on becoming a pilot, a message he hoped would stick with the Valley Christian students.

After graduating from UC Irvine in 1987, he received his Marine commission a year later and was designated a Naval aviator in 1990. He has flown in Somalia, Kuwait, and Iraq.

He said that even though he trained long and hard to become a pilot, his current assignment was one of his favorites.

“When you go overseas for a year or more, you don’t really see the importance of what you do until you come back here and see all of these young, smiling faces,” Malais said.

One of those young faces, senior Clay Martinez, offered a respectful reply to the helicopter crew with a speech lauding American heroes.

“This American hero isn’t the most popular person. You might never meet this person, or shake his hand, or even learn this person’s name, but he is still there, ready to fight for your freedom,” Martinez said.

For the students of Valley Christian Academy, the display was educational and inspiring.

“I thought it was really fun and stuff,” said sixth-grader Nick Chapman. “That these guys would take their time to come here and tell us what they think about being a Marine and serving their country was cool.”

Although he enjoyed talking to “the Moonlighters” crew and touring the helicopter, he said if he considered military service, he would like to fly jets.

The CH-46 has been in use by Marine pilots since 1969. The aircraft has seen action in every conflict dating back to Vietnam. It is mostly used for troop and equipment movement and has the capacity to carry 25 passengers, along with the crew.

That capacity comes in handy in humanitarian efforts, as well.

Capt. Bradley Fessler has flown both in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Unified Assistance, which provided tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

“The thought that an eight-ton machine being able to carry stuff that is more than it weighs in support of our troops is amazing,” said sixth-grader Anthony Soriano.

Soriano said serving on a helicopter would be “awesome” as long as he could shoot back if it was fired upon.

The event not only provided the students with a glimpse of what types of experiences military careers can provide, it also told many that its never too soon to start planning a career.

“It supports our purpose of having the kids see the support of our military provides,” explained Chuck Mason, principal at VCA. “An event like this really helps us connect the dots on where the kids need to go to begin a career like this.”

November 17, 2009