Jim Garst RPMN: What is your current position?


I am currently the President and CEO of Sevier County Choppers Inc. Our main business is conducting overhauls on Robinson helicopters, along with a small  a family owned and operated business.





         I was pretty sure I would not be able to do this. I really thought I was going to throw up on my instructor and was probably several shades of green. Of course this was August in lower Alabama, so the heat didn’t help much.


RPMN: How did you get your start in helicopters?


I started in the U.S. Army and liked it so much I stayed 24 years.


RPMN: When and how did you choose       you?


       I was in the Army Band at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and part of our job was to play in parades. It was so hot and miserable one day as we were marching around the         lining an antenna onto the top of signal towers and I thought it looked pretty cool. So I started the application process that next week and here I am.


10 Mar/Apr 2018


RPMN: Where did you get your start 


When I retired from the Army in 2000, I applied for a job with University of Tennessee Lifestar. They interviewed several people and gave the job to a younger guy who didn’t last 90 days. When they called me  run a local company. A friend had told me if he knew I was going to interview, he would have told me not to since they knew who they were going to hire.


RPMN: If you were not in the helicopter industry, what else would you see yourself doing?


If I wasn’t in this industry today I would probably have continued with music, and who knows where I would have ended


up. Everything happens for a reason, and in my case having a family business with both sons in aviation is perfect for us.


RPMN: What do you enjoy doing on 


       hold ‘em during World Series of Poker circuit events with one of my sons. The  granddaughters who I love to see as much as possible.


RPMN: What is your greatest career accomplishment to date?


I would say my greatest career accomplishment was to be able to say I served my country with pride. I watch some of the civilian-military conversation


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