Lt Col Brian J. Noe retired from Air Force active duty in 2016 after22 years of service as a Space and Missile Operations Officer. He moved to Winter Garden, Florida to become the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor(AFJROTC) at West Orange High School. While there, he led the school to receive a highly effective rating from the headquarters and brought the StellarXplorers competition to the school. This annual STEM competition exposes youth to real-world satellite orbital tools and allows them to use these tools to solve Space Operations problems. In addition, Lt Col Noe began a partnership between the high school and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019 to teach college-level dual enrollment aviation classes to high school students. At the time, the program consisted of only 10 cadets per year enrolled in two consecutive classes (“Principles of Aeronautics” and “Unmanned Aircraft Systems”). In 2021, Mr. Noe transferred the program out of AFJROTC into the student general population. Since then, the program has grown its annual enrollment from10 students to 67 students. These students now also take classes in aviation fundamentals (Civil Air Patrol course “Journey of Flight”) and advanced ground school knowledge (“Private Pilot Operations”). These courses allow students to earn their Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) certificates as well as complete their private pilot knowledge tests IAW FAR Section 61.105.Additionally, Mr. Noe mentored one of his business accounting students through his drone instruction course. This student now has earned his Part107 license and is opening his own commercial drone imagery business.
Mr. Noe is currently moving toward the next phase of expansion to increase the aviation student load to approximately 120 students annually;add two more courses “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operation & Cross Country Data Entry” and “UAS Applications in Aerial Photography”; and start an Aviation Club for the school. These courses will allow students tocomplete the FAA Part 107 Commercial Drone Pilot license and get real-world experience operating them. Future plans for the program include increasing the student load to 200+ students annually, increasing the number of qualified instructors, and receiving OCPS recognition for West Orange High School as an aviation magnet school for the county.
Since 2021, Mr. Noe has helped three students get accepted into Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. One now has his Private Pilot license and is enrolled in the aviation program. Another is pursuing her degree in Aeronautical Engineering. The third was accepted into the aviation program for AFROTC with a full-ride scholarship. In addition, he helped one student get accepted into the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where he is in the process of earning an Active Duty commission as an Air Force pilot. This year, most of Mr. Noe’s students have expressed an intent to pursue aviation as a career.
