Los Alamos High School senior Tomas Teel and his parents. Courtesy photoCOMMUNITY News:
Los Alamos High School senior Tomas Teel recently attended the National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C.
The forum focused on national security, diplomacy, national intelligence processes and national defense.
Teel is one of 250 students nationwide selected to attend the forum Oct. 6-11. The forum included presentations and addresses by leaders in national security and intelligence, including former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
The students also participated in presentations, breakout sessions and workshops on:
- National security and foreign affairs;
- Public policy;
- Implementation of national security and intelligence;
- Strategic decision making; and
- Career presentations by national defense, national intelligence and diplomatic government agencies.
The students also toured Andrews Air Force Base, the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia and the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia.
Regarding his experience, Teel said, “It was an eye opening and valuable experience for me. The amount of effort that goes into gathering and analyzing intelligence, and then using that knowledge to develop actions and public policies based on the results is a group effort of the many elements in the intelligence community, defense and our political leaders.
“I was able to get a sense of what I would need to do to further my educational efforts if I was interested in a career in intelligence, the military or politics.”
