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 |