Man becomes Airman, dreams of flying

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Joe Lacdan
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
His destiny hit him in a flash, as an 8-year-old child watching television in his family’s home.

“I just got a push,” said Senior Airman Kamarudini Raimi, a 509th Munitions Squadron supply liaison. “It came while I was watching TV. I saw pilots with their headsets and suits and I thought it was cool. From that day, I started doing everything possible to become a pilot.”

The fourth of eight children, Airman Raimi grew up in Accra, the capital and largest city in the Republic of Ghana. Airman Raimi and his siblings knew there were few career opportunities in Ghana. Jobs were scarce and qualifying to attend college in Ghana, or any secondary education was difficult, he said. Tuition costs were high and there were few colleges in the country.

It was even harder to become a pilot, Airman Raimi said. Ghana had no aviation training programs.

Still, his interest in flying continued to grow.

His family worried about his decision. Where did this crazy talk of flying come from? No one in his family ever talked about anything like it before. Too expensive, too risky they would say. Airman Raimi said they thought his dream was out of reach. He did not listen.

“They said, ‘why don’t you become a doctor or something?’” Airman Raimi said. “I said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I just wanted to be in the air.”

Airman Raimi wanted it so much, he began studying mechanical engineering at the Poly Technic in Accra so he could get the chance to learn about the engine systems of different air frames. He spoke to Ghana Airways pilots and discovered what he needed to learn to become a pilot. Each pilot he talked to told him the same thing: To become a pilot you must go to America.

“I knew it was going to be expensive,” Airman Raimi said. “I didn’t care. As long as I was going to fly, I did everything possible to get on planes.”

One day Airman Raimi received a letter. He had won a lottery to travel to the United States and become a permanent resident. More importantly, moving to the United States would give him an opportunity to fly.

Today, each time Airman Raimi closes his eyes in prayer, he sees his late father who died shortly after the Airman arrived here in 2000. Despite the doubts of others, the elder Raimi stood by his son. “Leave him alone, he knows what he’s doing,” his father would say.

Airman Raimi and his father also shared a spiritual bond. When Airman Raimi was young, he would develop a fever whenever his father left the house. But when his father returned, he said his illness went away. Subsequently, more than 15 years later, when Airman Raimi left Accra for America, his father became ill.

The grief from his father’s death lingered, but shortly afterward his grief turned into inspiration. In his mind, his father was still somewhere in the world, pushing him through adversity, he said.

One day, Airman Raimi saw aircraft parked at the Central Missouri State University Airport nearby. Excited, he enrolled in the school’s aviation program and a few weeks later began classes.

Airman Raimi remembers his first training flight well. His eyes widened as his plane rose from the ground. He said his heart skipped a beat the first time his instructor demonstrated a stall. A stall is a maneuver pilots use to pull out of a landing and to a higher altitude.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” said Airman Raimi, who became a U.S. citizen in April 2003. “I was overjoyed.”

Between his Air Force duties, he is also a full-time student, currently working toward a degree in aircraft systems design. He takes six to seven classes per semester in the evenings and weekends. Some days he works 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., then takes classes from 5 to 10 p.m.

“He has a desire to make something of himself,” said Tech. Sgt. Joe Blinn, Airman Raimi’s former supervisor. “He’s very well-disciplined. He knows what he wants and he gets it.”

Airman Raimi recently joined the Air Force Educational leave-of-absence program and attends school full time at CMSU to complete his degree. He also plans to apply for Officer Training School.

Whether he will fly planes for the Air Force or a commercial airline, he will be happy. It took 14 years of hard work, studying and searching, but Airman Raimi said he is living his dream today.