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| Wilson: Albuquerque-area Students Headed to Military Academies |
June 21, 2005 |
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AF Academy Grad Gives Gold Lieutenant Bars to New Mexico Students
Albuquerque, NM – Several Albuquerque-area students and their families celebrated recently with Rep. Heather Wilson as those students prepare for life as cadets in America’s prestigious military academies. Wilson nominated the students, who have been accepted at West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy and begin in June. Wilson also presented the students with a small gift meant to motivate the cadets as they face rough days.
“These students have earned full scholarships to attend a military service academy. They are the future leaders who will help keep America secure,” Wilson said. “I look forward to congratulating them four years from now when they graduate. Attending the Air Force Academy helped shape who I am, and I’m certain the next four years will have a similar life-long effect on these young New Mexicans.”
The reception is an annual tradition for Wilson as a new batch of students prepare for their freshman year at one of the five service academies. Wilson presents her successful nominees with one gold lieutenant’s bar. Wilson keeps a second lieutenant’s bar in a pin box displayed in her Albuquerque office, with each bar marked by the name of the student it belongs to. Students receive their second bar from Wilson after they graduate. A fellow cadet introduced Wilson to the gold bar tradition when she was at the Academy.
“I was having a bad day, and an upperclassman showed me his flight cap,” Wilson explained to the students and their parents at the reception. “On the outside, it was a regular cadet flight cap. But on the inside, where only he knew about it, was a second lieutenant’s bar. Every time he took his hat on or off, he felt it. It was a little reminder that helped keep him focused on his goal. It did the same for me, and today I still have my cadet flight cap with the gold bar inside.”
Wilson now gives one bar to each cadet from New Mexico for the inside of their hats and keeps a second one, which they can come back for once they graduate.
 “Because I have been in office long enough, I present the first bar to incoming cadets with the help of my most recent graduates – Lieutenants and Ensigns – who pass the tradition on to the next group of entering cadets,” says Wilson. “The first one is a gift, for motivation. The second one they have to earn.”
Wilson’s nominations for New Mexico students are merit-based. Students must apply to Wilson’s office for a nomination, then undergo an interview process with a board of New Mexico leaders tapped by Wilson to help screen potential nominees. Retired Air Force Colonel and Albuquerque resident John Curry serves as Wilson’s lead interviewer and oversees the various interview panels. He has assisted Wilson with this process every year since she was elected in ’98 and began nominating students to the nation’s military academies. Curry looks for academic excellence, integrity, and leadership as he interviews students looking for a Wilson nomination.
"New Mexicans can really be proud of our students,” says Curry. “As a retired Colonel, going through this process with Rep. Wilson each year gives me a lot of faith in the future of our military. Heather’s track record of nominating students and getting them into the various academies is excellent, and Albuquerque continues to have a record high number of students accepted into an academy. It’s a rigorous process, and I encourage New Mexico students considering a career in the military to begin the process of applying for an academy education today. Congresswoman Wilson’s work to nominate New Mexicans to the academies deserves our thanks. Through personal experience, she understands the benefits of an academy education. I think that’s why she works so hard to give as many New Mexicans as possible this opportunity.”
This year’s interview panel included:
Col. John Curry, Ret
Major Darrin Daggett
Col. Kenneth Dorner
Captain Deedra Fogle
CMSgt. Sheila Gurule
Captain Rodger Krull
2nd Lietenant Olivia Moss
Mr. Ken Sanchez
2nd Lieutenant Marietta Sanders
Captain Shaune Sanders
Mr. Victor Segura
Col. Bobby Wright, Ret
Mr. Mark Ackermann
Gil Martinez
Wilson coordinates her efforts with the entire New Mexico delegation in order to maximize the number of qualified New Mexicans who receive a nomination. Once a student receives a nomination, either from their Member of Congress, their Senator, or through other sources, the student must then be accepted by an academy. Not every student with a nomination is guaranteed admittance, but New Mexico continues to have an unusually high number of students accepted at our military academies. That’s a fact that Wilson is proud of and that hasn’t escaped local school leaders.
“I’m bursting with pride at our APS students who will continue their education at some of our nation’s best colleges,” said Robert Lucero, a member of the Albuquerque Public School’s Board of Education. “I wish each of them continued success. I’m also pleased to work with Congresswoman Wilson, who continues to show her strong support for education in our community. She has done more to ensure that deserving students from our schools receive nominations to our service academies than any New Mexico leader I know. The opportunity that she has provided for our students is noteworthy and speaks well for her commitment to education.”
New Mexico Students Headed to Military Service Academies
Adams, Matthew (Air Force Academy) graduated from La Cueva in 2004, attended Air Force Academy Prep School
Allen, Chaz (West Point) graduated 2001 Cibola High School, he attended West Point for 2 years then went on Mission and will now be going back.
Copeland, Chris (Air Force Academy) graduated from Cibola in 2004, attended Air Force Academy Prep School
Echternacht, Kyle (Navy Prep School) La Cueva High School (Barker nominee)
Frazier, Andrew (West Point) La Cueva High School
Gorence, Peter (Navy) Albuquerque High School (Domenici nominee)
Gross, Tyler (Air Force Academy Prep School) La Cueva High School (Barker nominee)
Henden, Erik (Merchant Marines) La Cueva High School
Kern, Roland (Air Force Academy) Los Lunas High School
Krueger, James (Navy) Albuquerque Academy (Domenici nominee)
Lowenstein, Ryan (Air Force Academy) La Cueva High School
Malins, Joseph (West Point) La Cueva High School
Martinez, Estevan (Navy Prep School) Albuquerque Academy
McDermott, Eric (West Point) Albuquerque Academy
Ramchander, Nanda (Navy) La Cueva High School
Sanchez, Robert (Merchant Marines) St. Pius X
Sleeter, Ryan (Air Force Academy) East Mountain High School
White, Ross (West Point) Sandia High School
Whitehouse, John (Merchant Marines) La Cueva High School |
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