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e-mail Esteban.Vickers@Marines.USMC.mil or visit Marineofficer.com

B ROOMFIELD -- It's 4 p.m. Monday at the Rocky Mountain Regional Airport, and Marine Corps Capt. Rick Birt is giving a presentation to his final load of passengers for the first day of an aviation orientation.

Seventeen eager, interested and just plain curious people have already taken a ride in the twin-engine, turbine-powered King Air aircraft provided by the Marines. The last load of potential Marine pilots includes a University of Colorado law student, a CU-Denver student already signed up with the corps and an undeclared University of Denver freshman.

It's little known that the Marine Corps even has a flight-school option -- which is why Capt. Esteban Vickers, who recruits officers for the Marines' Denver recruitment station, is at the Broomfield-area airport giving college students the chance to handle the controls of an airplane in flight.

"What we've really tried to do this time is really get the word out," Vickers says. "We've plastered campuses with fliers."

The two-day orientation program ends Tuesday with another docket full of flights. Vickers is hoping it will drum up interest in the Marines Corps' one-of-a-kind aviation training program for college students.

"It's a summer program. You don't wear a uniform. When you graduate, then you're offered a

From left, Alyssa Anderson, Kendra Catanzaro and Sara Diaz wait their turns to fly a King Air aircraft during a Marine Corps aviation orientation program Monday at the Rocky Mountain Regional Airport. ( MARTY CAIVANO )
commission and it's guaranteed aviation," Vickers says. "No other service can give you that."

CU has been the primary source of interested students over the past several years, according to Vickers. There's at least one CU student on every flight that leaves the runway Monday, but Vickers tries to accommodate students from all over Colorado for the rare opportunity.

"CU-Boulder is the No. 1 place I get my aviators from," Vickers says. "We have people coming from all over, and we're trying to get people from all different schools."

DU freshman Lauren Bell, who is less than two hours away from earning her pilot's license, admits she was drawn to the program by the promise of flying a jet for free, but she appreciates the low-pressure approach of the Marine Corps.

"I think it's neat that they're reaching out to college students," Bell says. "They're very inclusive. They were very open about it."

Pamela Maass, a CU law student, is considering going into the Marine Corps judge advocate program and was drawn to the orientation for the thrill.

"If you could do a combo air-JAG program, I'd be all over that," Maass says after her flight.