Evertson Nominated For Service Academies

Brian Evertson recalls the moment his mother came to Kimball High School during lunch and handed him a letter.

“I opened it and the top part said something like ‘thank you for your interest,’” the senior student said.

Evertson assumed--for a moment--that after a series of applications and interviews, he had not been put forward for entry into one of America’s military service academies. Instead, he learned that both Senator Ben Nelson and representative Adrian Smith nominated him to the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy.

“It’s kind of humbling,” he said.

Evertson interviewed with representatives from Annapolis for three hours and from the Air Force for another hour. He is an honor roll student, active in the FFA, plays in the high school band and runs track and cross country.

“They want to see a lot of extra-curricular activities,” Evertson reported.

It is not easy to enter the service academies. Annapolis, for example, receives 20,000 or more applications. They interview 5,000 potential students and accept just 1,200 in each Freshman class.

If he survives the stringent enrollment process (he will find out in April), Evertson hopes to build his flying skills. He is currently a member of the local Civil Air Patrol but hopes to control more powerful aircraft.

“Who wouldn’t want to fly jets,” he said with a smile.