Gaetz Nominates 30 Students To U.S. Military Academies

January 23, 2019

Congressman Matt Gaetz has nominated 30 students from the 1st Congressional District to U.S. military academies.

“This is the best part of the year for me to be the Congressman from the 1st Congressional District. There is no part of my job I like better than today. Before the day is over, I will nominate 30 of North West Florida’s best patriots for service in our military academies. At times like these where it is easy to be discouraged about government, we’re in the middle of a shut-down, it’s nice to be able to see the applications of people in northwest Florida who see the value in serving our country and who want to express their own love of country through service in our military academies,” Gaetz said.

Nominated from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were:

  • Connor Stibolt, Pensacola Christian Academy – Air Force and Naval academies
  • Clint Hinrichs, Pensacola High School – Air Force and Naval academies
  • Jeffrey Sutherland, Pensacola High School – Air Force Academy
  • Allison McGaugh, Pensacola High School – Naval Academy
  • Malcolm Rivers, Pensacola High School – Naval Academy
  • Noelle Matzinger, Pine Forest High School – Naval Academy
  • MacKenzie Schmidt, West Florida High School – West Point, Naval and Merchant Marine academies
  • Isaac Kelly, Pace High School – Naval and Merchant Marine academies
  • Trevor Compton, Gulf Breeze High School – Naval Academy
  • Zachary Walden, Gulf Breeze High School – West Point
  • Caroline Opager, Santa Rosa Christian School – Naval and Merchant Marine academies
  • Luciana Combs, Navarre High School – Naval Academy
  • Westen Key, Milton High School – Naval Academy and West Point

“These are the ones who stayed after class and did the extra homework, they are the ones who maybe didn’t have as much fun on the weekends because they were doubling down on that school project,”  Gaetz said. “They are the ones who their peers look to for leadership in organizations whether it’s athletics or service clubs. We see a tremendous wealth of leadership in the people we have selected to advance from our community.”

Gaetz also explained that this is a highly competitive process. Students had to show academic excellence, strong citizenship, and they were interviewed by a committee of local leaders.   He also stressed that the nomination is not a guarantee of admission. It is a key step in the highly competitive application process, but not the final step.

Additional students received service academy nominations, but their names won’t be released until they are notified.

Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

One Response to “Gaetz Nominates 30 Students To U.S. Military Academies”

  1. My2Cents on January 24th, 2019 9:22 am

    Congratulations!