Andy Snyder always wanted to fly. Even at a very young age.

And at one point, the West Penn native could fly an airplane by himself before he could drive a car alone. He learned to fly at Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton when he was 15 years old.

The 2006 Tamaqua graduate parlayed his passion to fly with serving his country. After high school, he began training to save lives.

Lieutenant Commander Snyder spent a year at the Naval Academy Preparatory School for the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he attended and graduated from. Next, it was straight to Navy flight school.

“Before, I wanted to fly the fixed-wings, but by the time I got to flight school, I had a change of heart and I wanted to fly a rotary-wing - I wanted to fly helicopters,” Snyder said.

“I learned how to fly the helicopter, doing search-and-rescue and stuff like that.”

His first assignment was in Louisiana, where he was stationed for four years.

“We did quite a bit of cases there, I think I had probably about 100 cases, I’m not sure how many people I saved or assisted,” said Snyder.

“Louisiana is known for its weather. … You’re flying around thunderstorms, flying through heavy downpours. One case I can remember, in Louisiana, the clouds were low level, so we were above the clouds. We had to get down, found a hole, and we went through the clouds. It was just north of Lake Pontchartrain. We ended up hoisting a guy off the roof when there was flooding.”

Snyder then moved to Air Station Detroit as the assistant engineering officer.

“I was second in charge for the engineering department,” Snyder said. “Taking care of five aircrafts and 60 people. I also became a flight instructor there, I was teaching younger pilots how to fly and do search-and-rescue missions.”

In March, Snyder and his flight crew rescued two boaters from their sinking vessel in the Sandusky Bay.

Snyder said his rescue team typically consists of a four-man crew - a pilot, co-pilot, flight mechanic and a rescue swimmer.

“Even in Michigan, in Detroit, I probably did 100 cases there, but I only hoisted two folks,” Snyder added.

Snyder transferred to Savannah, Georgia, earlier this summer, where he took on the role of engineering officer, while still doing search-and-rescue missions.

“I was fortunate to have a good support group growing up. A mother and father that understood my goals. The sports I did, baseball and wrestling with coach Jeff Reading and coach Jim McCabe, that taught me a lot about myself,” said Snyder.

“The big thing I would recommend is if you have goals and aspirations that you want to do; one they have to be realistic, and two you have to write them down. Put them in a place of prominence, whether it’s a on a dresser or wherever, somewhere you are seeing the on a daily basis. You can’t just keep it to yourself, you have to let your folks now - that’s your support network, for those folks to help you try to get where you want to go.”