Ep 349 Using the GI Bill to Kickstart Your Career with Pray Aviation
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
5.0 • 797 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Doug Mitchell of Pray Aviation joins Nic to break down how veterans can make the most of the GI Bill for flight training. He explains why earning a private pilot license is a crucial first step to unlocking these benefits, walks through the costs and structure of VA-approved programs, and underscores the importance of securing a VA Certificate of Eligibility.
Doug also shares his own unique journey - from a career in insurance and serving as a flight paramedic in the Guard to leading operations at Pray Aviation's Ozark base and pursuing his passion for flying later in life. To learn more about Pray Aviation, visit www.prayaviation.com, email info@prayaviation.com, or call (850) 983-9363.
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SPONSOR
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot, welcome to Ready for Pushback. I'm Nick Fielka, and today I want to talk to the veterans. |
| 0:10.5 | Are you a veteran? Are you interested in not doing the boring job that you have in front of you today? |
| 0:19.1 | Well, I've got great news for you. You can be a professional |
| 0:22.9 | pilot. And the way you do that is with prey aviation. And prey aviation is my guest today. |
| 0:29.3 | Doug Mitchell, who runs the Ozark base down near Mother Rucker, the conversation today is all about your GI bill how to leverage your |
| 0:42.3 | GI bill to get the flight training that you need how to surpass the point at which you |
| 0:50.1 | get your private pilot license you know your private pilot license is a requirement to be able to leverage |
| 0:57.0 | the rest of your GI bill. If you don't go to a four-year school, and this conversation |
| 1:03.2 | details all of it. If you know somebody that wants to be a pilot and they are a veteran, |
| 1:09.8 | this is the conversation for you. |
| 1:12.4 | I think Prey Aviation is one of the top premier flight schools in America, and they lean |
| 1:18.6 | heavily to help veterans, and this is for you, all right? |
| 1:22.4 | So sit back, relax. |
| 1:25.5 | Let's get ready for pushback. It all started as a spark. |
| 1:31.3 | Maybe it was the sound of jets racing across the sky. |
| 1:35.3 | Or the feeling of your heart racing as you watch Crop Duster flying low and slow. |
| 1:41.3 | Even then, you knew you were meant to fly. For pilots, it's more than |
| 1:48.2 | just a job. It's a calling. The early mornings, the long hours, the relentless training. |
| 1:55.4 | You didn't do it for the money. You did it for that moment. That moment when the wheels lift off and the earth falls away beneath you. |
| 2:02.6 | But flying is just the beginning. The journey to your dream job takes more than just skill in the sky. It takes strategy on the ground and a lifetime of learning. |
| 2:12.6 | Most pilots don't understand what career opportunities are available in the world of aviation. |
| 2:20.3 | Learn how to go from good to great, from flight school to regional to major, and from hopeful to hired. |
... |
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