Photo By Allison Hoy | Approximately 80 high school juniors and seniors pose June 22 at Joint Base...... read more read more
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Approximately 80 high school juniors and seniors visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord on June 22 as part of the Northwest Youth Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Military Order of World Wars — Puget Sound Chapter.
The 34th annual conference in the South Sound area began June 21 and will conclude June 25, with field trips including JBLM and the Washington State Capitol building.
The event’s objective is to help students better understand “the basic principles of a free society and of our nation’s history; the elements of leadership required to maintain a free society; those special aspects of leadership applicable to our political, legal, business, and military organizations; and the leadership skills which will enable them to successfully assume leadership positions in their schools and/or communities,” according to an online conference brochure.
At JBLM, “we’re going to learn how the Army does leadership,” said Dave Gibson, conference director and a retired Air Force colonel.
Many of the selected students are part of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, but such participation isn’t required for conference selection, Gibson said.
This year’s students — from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California and Florida — toured JBLM’s Captain Meriwether Lewis Memorial Park and the Lewis Army Museum; participated in a group activity and learning session at the Henry H. Lind Non-Commissioned Officer Academy; and experienced a hands-on demonstration of virtual trainers at the Western Region Training Support Center — Virtual Simulations and Mission Training Complex.
Events like this are important because “a lot of people don’t know soldiers anymore, or other people in the military,” said Heidi Pierson, director of the Lewis Army Museum. “So, coming to a place like this gives them a chance to get acquainted with a part of life that they might not be familiar with.”
Conference participant Cinderella Verstrate-Reed, 16, of Gig Harbor, was asked if she wanted to attend by her JROTC instructor. She is considering an Army career.
“I think the conference is amazing, and I think it’s going to help me learn a lot and … be better overall, not just in leadership,” she said.
At the NCO Academy, the students focused on “followership,” with the goal of helping them understand “how being a good follower ties to being a good leader, and then, once you’re the leader, you’re not just a boss. You’re actually a servant leader,” said Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Pyon, NCO Academy senior small group leader.
The virtual trainers demonstrated included the Engagement Skills Trainer II and the Stryker Virtual Collective Trainer, showing the students how service members “use these advanced virtual environments to safely and cost-effectively master individual marksmanship, crew coordination, and squad-level tactics before moving to live-fire field exercises,” said Nelson McLin, chief of virtual simulations at the WRTSC.
Gibson said he’d like the conference participants to leave the event with an overall “boost in their knowledge” about leaders, the United States and service members.
“We want them to be better citizens when they’re finished — more capable citizens, with maturity and leadership,” he said.
To learn more about JBLM, visit https://home.army.mil/lewis-mcchord/.
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2026 15:28 |
| Story ID: | 568501 |
| Location: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, JBLM hosts youth leadership conference, by Allison Hoy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
