Lieutenant Corbet Jackson
 
Unit of Merit, Bronze
Name: Corbet Jackson
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Height/Weight: 6'0"/180lbs
Hair/Eyes: Brown/Blue
Age: 28
Distinguishing Marks: Two Parallel scars along his upper chest
Build: Athletic


Personality Corbet Jackson displays many of the traits of a good fighter pilot, he is extremely competitive, and aggressive when provoked and definitely sports a strong ego. However he is less prone to cocky or brash outbursts as many of his colleagues tend to lean. Not overly gifted in an intellectual sense, he has a hunter's instinct – and displays a knack for leading men in combat. It is this board's opinion that Lieutenant Corbet Jackson is fit to assume command of VC-1
 


Background:
Corbet Jackson was born in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – Earth. His parents were the chief instructors at the Jackson Hole Ski School, and had the unfortunate last name of Jackson, which meant they were often fielding questions if their surname was related to the name of the Valley or "Hole". It was not. Felix and Sarah Jackson were both originally from the central Midwest of North America. Worse, for some reason they decided to name their son after a popular cliff face off of Rendezvous Mountain. Something the young boy never forgave them for.

Growing up in a primary tourist center Corbet spent his formative years in a multitude of outdoor activities, from hiking and rafting (including white-water) in the summer to downhill skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. A solid athlete Corbet enjoyed the various outdoor activities but never really found something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He loved skiing and rafting the Snake River – but he couldn't see himself spending the rest of his life doing it either.

Never an extremely academic student, as his primary and high school years ended Corbet found himself applying to various colleges simply because that was the thing to do at his age. He was accepted to a
few, but none of them really grabbed his attention. It was a mid-July day in '75; the Dominion War had turned and was running in the Alliance's favor, all that though was beyond Corbet's caring. He was far more worried about the fact he hadn't picked a college yet. That afternoon a heavy thunderstorm pounded the 'Hole and Corbet sought cover in a strip mall in town. It just so happened that the door he ran into was the recruiting center for Starfleet Academy.

Four hours later he had applied and been accepted into the Academy. The recruitment officer had done some basic aptitude testing and proclaimed Corbet a great helmsman or pilot in the making. While Corbet was no more certain about this career choice then any of the rest the recruiter had been persistent, and he'd accepted the slot at the Academy.

His parents had been mostly supportive of his somewhat apathetic decision, and that August he headed off to the Academy.

His years at the Academy are best described as mediocre. To begin with Corbet still wasn't certain that this was what he wanted to do. The early classes were often dealing in theory, and such things were never his strong suit. But his first day in a simulator, 'flying' for the first time changed all that.

All the theory that had been somewhat abstract to him made a lot more sense in three dimensions as he piloted the simulator. More over – he was good at it. His Instructors would later label him as gifted in the area – which would alter his career paths in ways he had no way to for see.

While his new love of flying was definitely defining for his career, he still continued to struggle somewhat with his more cranial courses at the Academy. Only through a lot of hard work and the help of some very dedicated tutors was he finally able to graduate.

Granted the rank of Ensign (JG) on graduation, he was immediately shipped off to Miramar Station – Starfleet's primary training facility for fighter pilots, which was working hard to replace the dizzyingly heavy losses to the fledgling fighter corps during the War, now four years past. It was here that Ensign Corbet Jackson came into his own. His natural affinity for competition and an exceedingly strong drive to win coupled with his abilities as a pilot and an excellent Starfighter Pilot was born.

Five short years after stumbling into the Starfleet Academy recruitment office, without a plan or a place to be now Ensign (SG) Corbet Jackson knew what he wanted to do, and more importantly – that it was where he belonged.

Transferred to his first squadron, VF-351 known as the "Staves" he flew two seat Valkyries off the USS White Rook – a Normandy class Starship. He spent two years with the Staves and while he was never considered the hottest pilot aboard, he was solid member, and remembering his days under the enthusiastic and helpful tutors at the academy he spent a lot of time helping the less successful pilots hone their skills in holo-deck sim time.

This extra activity earned him notice and in '82 he was promoted to Lieutenant (JG) and put in command of three flight. In '83 he was promoted again, to Lieutenant after his squadron tangled with an Orion pirate frigate, and the Squadron XO was killed. It was early 2384 when his Squadron CO pulled him into his office and asked if he had ever thought about a Squadron Command of his own. For all truth, Corbet had not – he was happy flying with the Staves, and they had a good record. The Squadron CO had informed him that if he did have any hope of going up the command ladder he'd have to leave the Staves. Most Squadron CO's got themselves a job as a CAG, or moved on within a few years, but the Stave's CO had been there as long as Corbet had – and knew he had no career ahead of him outside the Staves. The only way Corbet was getting promoted again inside the Staves was if the CO bought the farm, or retired.

A few days later Corbet met with his CO again, and mentioned that he might be interested in his own squadron. After a few nights of thought Corbet had decided that this was where he belonged, and he wanted to keep trying to make a career out of it. His CO had heard of a new initiative called "Composite" fighter squadrons that the Fleet was looking into. The deal was the CO of the unit had to be flight and combat certified in both or all three fighter types within the squadron. The first few squadrons that were being formed were going to be Valkyrie/Broadsword mixes. Luckily, while the Rook didn't field any Broadswords, one of the Marine Razor pilots was a certified instructor for Broadswords.

Two months later, freshly certified in Broadswords Corbet sent a letter of intent to the transfer board that was looking to fill the slots of the new Composite Squadrons.

In late '84 the call came, and Lieutenant Corbet Jackson transferred to the newly formed VC-1 as Squadron CO. The next eight months saw VC-1 in intense training through-out areas of Sol. In June the orders came through to transfer to Obsidian Fleet space and await assignment to a ship. The newly christened "Wildcards" loaded their fighters onto bulk transports and headed for SB-47 to await their new ship.

Starfleet Record:
07/04/2357: Birth
08/01/2375: Enrolled at Starfleet Academy
05/22/2379: Graduated the Academy, granted Rank of Ensign (Junior Grade)
06/05/2379: Began training at Miramar Station as a Fighter Pilot
08/15/2380: Promoted to Ensign (Senior Grade) and Transferred to VFA-351
03/22/2382: Promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and elevated to Flight Leader
10/28/2383: Promoted to Lieutenant and elevated to XO of VFA-351
05/08/2384: Received Certification in Broadsword class fighters
10/15/2384: Transferred to VC-1 as Squadron CO
06/30/2385: VC-1 Transferred to Obsidian Fleet