News

Veterans vet academy applicants

A panel of retired military officers interview Air Force Academy applicant Isaac Nicholson. Panel members, from left, are Navy Capt. George Mensch, Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Devereaux, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, Air Force Maj. Rich Augur and Army Col. John Pl

By Bill Moss, Published: November 13, 2015

If he was intimidated to be in the presence of seven high-ranking officers with distinguished military careers, Isaac Nicholson didn’t show it.

A Hayesville High School senior with a crew cut and serious demeanor, Nicholson had ridden with his mother from his hometown to interview at the office of U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows for an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy. His oldest brother is in pilot training for the Air Force and his next oldest is currently enrolled in the Air Force Academy.
“I felt pretty confident,” the 17-year-old said when he emerged from the half-hour interview. “It was pretty awe-inspiring to be around those men who have already accomplished so much when I’m just starting to go in it.”
The review panel is made up of seven retired officers. It’s chaired by Rick Devereaux, a retired major general who flew the C-5 Galaxy, KC-135 Stratotanker and other aircraft during a 34-year Air Force career. A 1978 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Devereaux, who is retired in Asheville, is currently chair of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va.
The panel also includes George Mensch, a retired Navy captain and 1961 Naval Academy graduate who lives in Flat Rock; and retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Frank Blazey, who graduated from West Point in 1946 and was sent to Germany. (“Korean War was next where I commanded a company and have never really liked the Chinese since,” Blazey wrote in a sketch of his background.)
Isaac Nicholson answers questions from (ret.) Air Force Lt. Col. Joey Mull.Meadows said he decided to form the panel, first, to take the politics out of service academy appointments and, second, because the retired military leaders all have first hand experience with the academies and know what it takes to be successful.
“I’m blown away by some of these candidates,” Meadows said. “I think the other part of it is we’ve got a strong military community for a congressional district that doesn’t have a military base.”
While it’s typical for service academy nominees to have the support of friends and neighbors, teachers and families, Meadows said, “bringing in the generals and leaders of the Army, Air Force and Navy will allow the success rate of our nominees to be even greater in the future. One of the great calls you get to make is when you call an applicant and say ‘I’m nominating you to a service academy.’”
Meadows said he enjoys watching the retired sailors, Army officers, Marines and airmen “banter back and forth” about which branch is better. Mostly, he’s impressed with their commitment to the community and to the young people who are applying. The panel spent all day Monday — two days before Veterans Day — interviewing 18 applicants who sought a congressional appointment to one of four service academies. Applicants from Henderson County were Patrick Darnell, from North Henderson High School; and Michael Schmidt, Dawson Walker and Amy Yarborough, all of Hendersonville High School.
“Some of our applicants could be accepted at Yale or Harvard or MIT,” Meadows said. “They all say instead ‘I want to serve my country.’ It makes you know that the generation that follows will not let the torch of freedom be extinguished.”