Major: Aeronautical Science
Hometown: Malabar, FL
Class: Sophomore
Phillip was born and raised in sunny Florida. Immediately after graduating high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he earned the Military Occupational Specialty of 0331, Machine Gunner.
During his service, Phillip was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Camp Pendleton, California, and deployed multiple times around the world, to include Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
On his final deployment, Phillip sustained injuries that required knee and back surgeries, ultimately leading to his early retirement from the Marine Corps.
As he approached the end of his military career, a former student from the School of Infantry–West invited him on a flight in San Diego, California. That experience ignited his passion for aviation and set him on a new path that ultimately brought him to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
