U.S. Navy Reserve · U.S. Army National Guard
U.S. Merchant Marine · Civil Aviation
U.S. Merchant Marine · Civil AviaBefore Scott Franklin ever set foot in a Pilates studio, he had already spent a lifetime defying gravity.
Over the course of four decades, Scott piloted helicopters across five continents and the seven seas — logging more than 9,000 flight hours and qualifying as Pilot-in-Command in 17 different helicopter types. He flew combat missions in the Persian Gulf. He evacuated wounded soldiers from a forward operating base in Iraq. He trained generations of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviators.
Today, he’s found a new kind of discipline on the Pilates reformer at Rocky Mountain Pilates Studio. And the man who once held the highest rotary-wing pilot license the FAA issues has lost 30 pounds and gained a community.tion
From the Sea to the Sky
Scott’s path to the cockpit began on the water. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he joined the Sea Scouts at 13. He went on to attend the California Maritime Academy, earning a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering in 1983, and sailed for two years as a licensed Third Assistant Engineer aboard merchant vessels departing San Francisco and New Orleans.
But the sky was calling. Through the US Naval Reserve, Scott became a Naval Aviator, earning the rank of Lieutenant and the radio call sign “Scooter.” He flew the SH-60 Seahawk as an Aircraft Commander and served as a flight instructor for the TH-57 Sea Ranger, training the next generation of military aviators. In the final years of the Cold War, Scott flew Anti-Submarine Warfare missions in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans aboard US warships — part of an Alpha Crew maintained at 100% combat readiness against Soviet, Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian submarines.
When the Gulf War came, Lieutenant Franklin was there. In the Persian Gulf, his assigned missions included Search and Rescue and Anti-Mine Warfare. He earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service Medal before transferring, after eight years of Navy service, to the US Army National Guard.
From the Gulf to Iraq
In the Army, Scott rose to Chief Warrant Officer Four and earned the designation of Master Army Aviator — one of the military’s highest aviation honors. He flew the UH-1 Huey and served as a UH-60 Blackhawk Instructor Pilot, with additional qualifications in Aero-Medical Evacuation and Air Mission Commander.
In 2006, he was called up for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Based in the Diyala River Valley, Scott flew medical evacuation missions with a Forward Support MED-EVAC Team — some of the most high-stakes flying a pilot can do. His performance earned him the Air Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. In a rare honor, an armored cavalry unit he supported granted him permission to wear their ceremonial riding boots and Combat Spurs. He retired from military service in 2008.
A 30-year civilian aviation career overlapped his “weekend warrior” service with the Guard; then continued afterward — charter flights for commercial, corporate, and government clients, working across five continents. He retired from commercial aviation in 2024, closing out 40 years in the air.
Finding Rocky Mountain Pilates Studio
Scott has been a student at Rocky Mountain Pilates Studio for about a year and a half, drawn in through the studio’s veteran program. The physical results have been significant — improved fitness, flexibility, balance, and strength, along with 30 pounds lost in his first year. But it’s the consistency of the practice, and the people he’s found alongside him, that have kept him coming back.
For any veteran on the fence about trying the program, Scott’s perspective is straightforward: the discipline that made you good at serving your country is the same discipline that will serve you here.
Scott Franklin spent 40 years in the air so the rest of us could go about our lives safely. Rocky Mountain Pilates Studio is honored to have him as part of the studio’s veteran program.
Rocky Mountain Pilates Studio offers free classes to active military and veterans. To learn more or register, visit
www.rockymountainpilatesstudio.com/vet-program
