NEWBERRY — Hunter Werts of Prosperity has always had a dream to serve his country so to help fulfill that dream, he applied to four of the Federal Service Academies — U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy.
To apply, Werts had to receive a nomination to each school from either a congressional representative, a senator, the vice president or the president. Werts went through the interview process and received nominations to all four academies.
Sen. Tim Scott nominated Werts to the Military Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy, Sen. Lindsey Graham nominated him to the the Military Academy as well and former Rep. Mick Mulvaney nominated Werts to the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy.
“It has been a dream of mine since eighth grade. It started with my eighth grade teacher, Mr. Robert Flint,” Werts said. “I always wanted to serve and he told me about the service academies. Mr. Flint, he is an ex-Marine. To start off with he is a great guy and I told him one day I was interested in enlisting, and he said that there are other options, that I could apply for ROTC scholarships and go in as an officer, or get into an academy if I was blessed enough. So I took the chance and rolled with it.”
Werts got into the Merchant Marine Academy via Mulvaney’s nomination and also got a prep school nomination for the Air Force Academy.
To receive a nomination from the senators and representative, Werts had fill out essays and go through an interview process. He said each had different processes.
For example, for the Graham nominations, Werts had to fill out four essays per nomination.
“All of them made you do essays and then you have an interview, but you interview in front of a panel and all of those are different too. With Tim Scott I interviewed in front of two guys, with Graham I interviewed in front of three and with Mulvaney I interviewed in front of eight. That one was scary,” Werts said.
If Werts goes to the Merchant Marine Academy he will spend four years in the academy, and then spend eight years in the Navy Reserves.
“I also think I have to serve eight years in the maritime industry, like oil tankers, cargo ships, all that fun stuff,” Werts said. “If I go to the prep school, I would have to do a year at another institution and hopefully get into the Air Force Academy.”
No matter which path Werts chooses, he said he wants to follow a career path in law, something he could do with either choice.
“I always idealized the people that served and then my dad told me one time he thought about serving, but his parents did not support it,” Werts said. “I also like the cool stories my great grandfathers told me about World War II.”
Werts, 18, graduated from Mid-Carolina High School and he lives in Prosperity with his parents, Joe and Kim Werts.