It seems as though it was destiny that Sgt. David Merrick joined us at UMA this year.
“I was seeking a job that would allow me to use my training and leadership experience and my aerospace science skill set to continue serving in the education and training industry.”
Sgt. Merrick brings a great deal of experience to his position as Science of Flight instructor.
He has over twenty-three years of knowledge in the production and manufacturing fields.
Sgt. Merrick joined the United State Air Force in 1999. He graduated high school and wanted to go to college, but he thought he couldn’t make it past six months so he decided to join the military instead. He ended up getting seven years of college without being in debt.
Since then, he has accumulated a great deal of awards & certifications. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Trident University International in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Since 2010, he has earned a variety of certifications and degrees in both aircraft maintenance and leadership and management.
Sgt. Merrick joined the 388th Maintenance Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah in 2014 where he was Section Chief in the Propulsion Support Section. From October 2017- October 2019 he served as Flight Chief, the senior leader responsible for 5 departments with 70 employees across 2 maintenance, He also managed daily and weekly maintenance scheduling and execution with an average of 34 jet engines produced annually.
Prior to joing UMA, Sgt. Merrick has been curious about education and learning. “I always was so fascinated by seeing how two people can be in the same class and learn the same instructions, but one person gets it and the other person doesn’t, one person can see it and do it, but the second person might have to see it and hear them do it.”
If Sgt. Merrick could change anything in this school he “would like to put a bigger drill pad in the school so kids could learn and practice more on drill and maybe get good at doing it since some flight rooms do it on their most of the time so other flights can’t get their flights on the drill pad and learn more about drill. Some of the new kids don’t know very much about drills, so it would be nice to have the new kids in UMA to learn everything that they need to know so they don’t feel left out because they don’t know what they are doing.”
Cadets have a pretty positive first impression of Sgt. Merrick. Cadet Whight said, “Yeah, I like him. Sometimes he can talk a lot, but most of the time his teaching is kinda fun. At the end of the day, like 5 minutes before the bell, he lets you be on your phone.”
Sgt. Merrick tries to be a fun teacher, but he will correct you if you are doing something you should not be doing. He has made cadets stand up for formation a couple of times for interrupting his class and he brings up that “we are in one class as a family, so we will do stuff as a family.”
Sgt Merrick wanted to join the military because his father and his father’s father have been in the military. For a long time the military was a big thing for his family, and he wanted to be part of the military since he was 18 years of age. He advises a lot of people who want to be in the military.
“The military is not for everyone. If you want to learn discipline, and if you want to learn success, the military is the way to go. The airforce is the also the way to go. We will teach you the discipline and the success that you need.”
