The CBU Flight School War Plan

Written by Carolyn Bokinskie | Designed by Sofia Eneqvist and Camille Grochowski | Photographed by Camille Grochowski

The power of perspective is what shapes and pushes people to think differently and create new boundaries that redefine the status quo. The dominion of flight takes the norm and elevates it to profound heights and views. Aviation has soared to a new peak in job demand and is appearing in more university programs across the nation .

California Baptist University has been honing and refining their program even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Dr. John Marselus, chair of the Department of Aviation Science, has been orchestrating and building aviation programs in different schools for years, but he came and took over as the chair for CBU in 2018. With 25 years of service in the Air Force as a pilot in combat and command centers, Marselus also took to education and received a Master of Arts in Religion as well as a doctorate in divinity.

“God revealed that my background would be used to go and raise this next generation for his glory, that they would serve him with their might, soul, mind and strength in the profession of aviation,” Marselus says. “So everything that I have learned in all these different schools that I have gone to, is going to be used for his glory.”

The heart behind the aviation program is to equip the next generation of pilots and aviation specialists to go forth and make a difference in the field. That begins by asking the simple question, “why do you want to fly?,” Marselus says.

“It’s a question I ask every prospective student. There has to be something God just gives inside of you that’s unexplainable, quite frankly,” Marselus says. “It was why at the age of 5 I would try to swing high enough and jump off my swing set, and I figured I might be able to fly if I flapped my arms. You just want to fly, and most people don’t have that, but every one of our students does.”

Allowing that passion and purpose to flow through the learning process at CBU is what makes this program different. Students are hungry to learn and give their all to a calling they feel in their bones. Jordan Helbig, sophomore aviation major will be graduating from the program in December 2022.

“I love flying. Its a thrilling and exciting challenge. I decided to study it because I thought it would be a good career and also because I wanted to travel and see new places. I chose to study it at CBU because they had a really great program and great professors and I thought it would be the best academics I could get,” Helbig says.

Taking to the skies is not the only option available to students, as the aviation management tract as been in place since fall 2013. This is a non-flight major that equips students for business and managerial roles, according to Dr. Daniel Prather. Prather is a professor in aviation management with more than 10 years of airport operations experience and is an accredited airport executive and certified aviation manager.

“The aviation management major is very flexible, preparing students for careers in airport operations, airline management, fixed base operations management and even jobs with the Federal Aviation Administration.” Prather says. He said the business of aviation needs professionals who understand the intricacies of airline operations but also the private pilot ground terminology. This major has grown significantly over the years and now has concentrations in aerospace technology and flight operations, to name a few. The mobility in this major allows for some students to also pursue FAA certificates and ratings, but no flight hours are required for the major itself.

The strength of this program is further reinforced with their ability to withstand March 2020: COVID-19.

“What took place in my mind was, ‘How do we serve the students?’” Marselus says. “It put me back into a mindset of being a war planner. The department of defense does a really excellent job of planning. They are some of the best planners, so I went to a lot of training in that, and in that, you have a situation and we have deliberate planning and crisis action planning,”

At the time COVID struck, no deliberate orchestrations could have effectively prepared any program to handle the situation eloquently, so crisis action planning was grabbed from the shelf.

During the few operative weeks of the pandemic, Marselus and his team were looking at the situation and monitoring all local and federal ordinances being discussed, while simultaneously strategizing how best to serve their students.

“Aviation and flight schools were critical infrastructure, and then flight instructors were essential personnel. Those were two key elements that we had for aviation,” Marselus says. “Once we had that we were cleared to continue to operate by all government agencies, but now the due diligence is on us to find how were going to continue to operate and how do we do this in the best manner to keep our students flying, to keep them moving forward and mitigate risk.”

Four phases were published and brought before CBU’s leadership that showed cleaning procedures and safety measures above the norm being set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government organizations. There was little debate left to keep the students from flying, so they took to the skies because the faculty was prepared and ready to fight for the future of their students.

“We ended up flying twice as much as we ever did because the procedures were working and the students were now online so they didn’t have to go to class,” Marselus says.

The protection of students and faculty throughout this process has allowed future Lancers to see the cultivation and mindfulness exhibited during tenuous circumstances. The foundation of the aviation program goes beyond getting students a job after graduation, but effectively and confidently allowing students to live their purpose.

“When I meet with a parent and student, I tell them that I only want you here if this is where God will have you. You need to go where God will have you. If it’s somewhere else, great. If it’s here, great.” Marselus says. “But when you walk through these doors I want you to know that God is calling you to CBU, and he has sovereignly opened the door and you are where you are meant to be.”

The work is not done through idle hands, but through thoughtful and prayerful examination of the heart during hardship and success. Helbig shared her passion and excitement for flying that led her to get her private certificate in high school which has allowed her a swift progression through the program. When discussing next steps, there are a plethora of options available for pilots in the local sector as well as the armed forces, but that’s not all.

“I really want to be a missionary pilot. That’s the goal,” Helbig says. “Missionary flying looks like living overseas at least for a couple years with a company, and you just fly for them. It also could look like Samaritan’s purse where you fly missions teams from their safe zones or overseas, or even something local like Doctors Without Borders. We will see what doors open. I will probably instruct flight right when I graduate to build up hours and then I’m thinking about doing regional airlines just for ten years or so to get something on the resume and get a salary. Missionary flying is usually self funded.”

There is no uniform pathway for aviation majors to follow for their career, and the freedom to explore and venture into different parts of the world is a rather great perk.

The beginning of the semester is marked by an all-leaders celebratory meeting.

“We share all the accomplishments of our students and all that is going on for the program. The Marines were there. The navy was there. A local employer was there trying to hire all of them. In this time we got our part 141 at the FAA and our restrictive ATP so now our students can go to the airlines in two thirds of the time. They can go in 1,000 instead of 1,500 hours. It was just a celebration of what God has done and we were all together.” Marselus says.

Coming together in person and being flooded with a program that is pulsing with life and growth is exciting and exhilarating. The passion behind the students and faculty is extending beyond campus, and the reach is only just beginning. Seeing how God has allowed the program to continue to grow and impact more students and the world beyond is another testament to the embodiment of CBU’s culture.

As fluid as the wind, a shifting time marks a new generation of leaders in the world of aviation. Passing by the CBU fleet, Marselus remarks on the question of if he missed flying. He paused and smiled, “I love to fly, but I love my students more.”