Coming home by air
Mifflin County graduate, lifelong Penn State fan to take part in Navy flyover at Beaver Stadium
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LEWISTOWN - Long before Cade Pollock wore a Navy uniform, he was a kid in Mifflin County following Penn State football.
Saturday afternoon, he'll be above Beaver Stadium before the Nittany Lions take a snap.
Pollock, a 2017 Mifflin County High School graduate and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, will be aboard a P-8 Poseidon when the aircraft flies over Beaver Stadium before Penn State opens its season against Marshall.
For Pollock, a Naval Air Crewman and lifelong Penn State fan, the assignment brings him home in a way he couldn't have expected when he left Mifflin County High School nine years ago.
The flyover will come before Saturday's 3:30 p.m. kickoff, when Penn State opens the Matt Campbell era against Marshall in its 11th annual Stripe Out game.
Pollock isn't a pilot. He serves as a Naval Air Crewman and holds the rank of Petty Officer 1st Class, an E-6.
That path began after high school and led to Navy aviation training in Pensacola, Florida.
Pollock knew he wanted to serve. What he didn't know was what job he wanted once he joined.
"I knew I wanted to join the military," Pollock said. "I wasn't necessarily sure what I wanted to do. But honestly, I lucked out with what I'm doing now. It's a pretty good job."
After boot camp, Pollock went to Pensacola for Naval Air Crew Candidate School. Completing that initial training led to his aviation rating and more specialized instruction.
Flying isn't unusual for Pollock anymore. He had finished a training flight the same day he spoke about Saturday's assignment.
Flying over a football stadium is different.
Pollock has taken part in other aviation events, including static displays where an aircraft remains on the ground and visitors can tour it. Saturday will be his first flyover of a sporting event.
His first will be at Beaver Stadium.
The Penn State connection extends throughout the crew. Pollock said everyone aboard the aircraft Saturday either graduated from Penn State or attended the university.
Pollock took Penn State classes online for a couple of years before continuing his education at Maryland.
"I grew up a Penn State fan my whole life," he said.
Pollock had talked about Penn State with pilots in his unit who graduated from the university. When plans for the flyover came together, they extended an invitation for him to join them.
Saturday's flight also represents a second chance.
Pollock said the crew had planned a Penn State flyover last fall, but a government shutdown and loss of funding caused it to fall through.
They intended to try again.
This time, it worked.
"They reached out and said, 'Hey, we're go for the opening game against Marshall,'" Pollock said.
There are parts of Saturday's flight Pollock leaves to the pilots. Asked about the precision required to put an aircraft over the stadium at the right moment, he stayed within his role.
"That's a tough one for me because, like I said, I'm not a pilot," he said.
His job will be aboard the aircraft.
Afterward, he'll get to enjoy being home.
His family plans to be at Beaver Stadium for the game, giving them a chance to watch a moment that has been a long time coming. Pollock said they're excited to see him take part in the flyover, and he's looking forward to seeing them, too.
"I should have some time off when I'm there, so I'm excited to go home and spend some time with them as well," Pollock said.
After the P-8 crosses Beaver Stadium and Penn State and Marshall begin playing below, Pollock expects another moment he couldn't have imagined as a Mifflin County student figuring out what came next.
He said the crew was told it should be on the field during the fourth quarter.
The flight offers another measure of how far that path has taken him.
Asked what he would tell Mifflin County students who might consider military service, Pollock didn't start with the aircraft.
He started with the people.
"If somebody were thinking of joining the military, I would say that it's worth it," Pollock said. "You will make the greatest friends, and really the people you work with are family."
In the military, Pollock said, those relationships become something more than coworkers.
"They become really like an extended part of your family," he said.
The work has given him something else, too: the satisfaction of serving, whether on overseas missions or through volunteer work.
"There are a lot of ways to give back," he said. "There's a lot of personal satisfaction in that, too."
Saturday, one of those moments will last only seconds.
A Navy P-8 Poseidon will pass above Beaver Stadium. Thousands of people will look up.
And aboard it will be a Mifflin County graduate who grew up a Penn State fan, coming home by air.