Air Force Capt. Ladonna Singleton, a communications
officer with the 254th Combat Communications Group in
Garland, Texas, was the only Air National Guard member
who participated as a mentor in the 2009 U.S. Senate
Youth Program. The week-long program brought young
people together from across the country to learn about
the political process.
Photo courtesy of Erin Lubin |
|
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2009
Students
participating in the U.S. Senate Youth Program recently toured
government buildings including the Pentagon, met their elected
representatives and learned about the foundations of democracy.
They also became personally acquainted with a
citizen-airman who defends this democratic process.
Air Force Capt. Ladonna Singleton, a communications officer with the
254th Combat Communications Group in Garland, Texas, was the only
Air National Guard member to mentor students in the weeklong program
that brings young people to the nation's capital from across the
country to learn more about the political process.
“We have to make sure we have them all 100 percent accounted for
from the time we get up for breakfast at 7:30 to the time we go to
bed,” Singleton said during the event. “We have to stay in
service-dress uniform until 11 at night.”
Singleton escorted the students as they talked with high-level
officials, including senators, Supreme Court justices, and even
President Barack Obama. Though the students already knew a lot about
the political process, Singleton said, many were unfamiliar with the
military.
“Some of the students had no idea what the Air
Force did or the Army or the Marines or the Coast Guard or any of
the other services until they met up with us,” she said. “They |
