For those who may question our country’s future with the next generation stepping into leadership roles, if Hallie Kinion is emblematic of our best and brightest, America is in very good hands.
Hallie, a 17-year-old senior at Gore High School, has earned not one but two appointments to U.S. service academies — the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy — which may make her the first Gore student to earn appointment to the USNA as well as the first with multiple appointments.
“I had always known that I wanted to go to college from a very young age,” Hallie says, “and I’ve always wanted to be in the military, because my dad was in for 28 years. He retired as a major in the Air Force.”
Then her father, Troy, shared information that left Hallie thunderstruck.
“We were on vacation and I was like, ‘Dad, I wanna go to college, but I wanna go to the Air Force or wherever just like you did’,” Hallie says, recalling the genesis what would become her obsession. “And he was like, ‘Well, did you know that there’s academies? There’s the Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, West Point.’ I did not know, and my dad really didn’t know much about them — he knew they existed. Since then, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. There’s been no question since then.”
That was four years ago. “When I was in the eighth grade was when my dad told me that there were colleges, the academies, for military, where you can go through and you can be commissioned as an officer. So I have been working toward this for four years,” Hallie says.
That dedication included a checklist and mapping out what she needed to do to get to where she is today.
“In the eighth grade is when it all started. I needed to get Algebra I out of the way. And since that’s not a common thing for eighth graders to move up to high school math, that was a little bit of a struggle. But we convinced the administration I was serious about it, and they let me do Algebra I when I was in the eighth grade, but I also had to do eighth-grade math at the same time. So that kinda kick-started it,” she explains.
By the time Hallie reached her junior year, “that’s when I started needing classes like physics, trigonometry, pre-calculus, all this stuff that is not available here at my school. That’s the unfortunate part about being in a small school.”
But college courses are available online, which enabled Hallie to “seek out the courses that were not available here at school. I got all those difficult online courses in” via concurrent enrollment through Connors State College.
“So a lot of that was me having to have the self-discipline to get those classes done, which is kinda difficult, especially without an instructor here that I can ask questions, because I like to know that I’m doing something right — I’m the person that asks all the questions. But we’re finally past all that.”
In addition to her academic accomplishments, Hallie is also president of Student Council and senior class president, and a member of the academic team, gifted and talented, and National Honor Society. She runs track for Gore, and was an All-Stater for cross country.
That’s when U.S. Congressman Josh Brecheen nominated Hallie for appointment to both the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, where only the cream of the crop makes the cut — the acceptance rate is 9% for the USNA in Annapolis, Md.; 13% for the AFA in Colorado Springs.
“I’m very glad I got both, because they do not have to nominate you for both. They have a limited number of spots for all academies. The class size is usually around 1,500 the first year. So I feel very lucky that that happened.” Other service academies are West Point, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard, but “I never found much interest in any of those — Army doesn’t have any careers that really interest me.”
Hallie’s first step on her challenging voyage of discovery that will afford her a world-class, four-year degree and commission as an officer and leader began when she successfully competed with outstanding young people from across the nation for admission to the historic institutions.
Hallie found out about her appointment to the Naval Academy when she was on her way to have her wisdom teeth extracted. Brecheen personally telephoned her to announce the good news, and then she subsequently received notification that she was among the elite for the AFA.
Choosing between the two appointments Hallie admits “is the tough part of it.”
“If I’m being completely honest, as of right now, I think I’m kinda leaning Navy. The reason, it’s kinda funny, is because all throughout high school I was so convinced Air Force all the way. I’m gonna go Air Force, Air Force.
“But it’s just kinda weird, because lately I’ve just been kind of questioning. I’m like maybe I need to go Navy, maybe I need to change things up. Because when I really think about it, the Air Force is just a comfort, because my dad was in it. So I’m so familiar [with it], I know everything about the Air Force, I know the ranks. Navy? I don’t know anything about the Navy. So I think the unknown aspect of it really excites me. I think I’m kind of leaning more toward Navy at this point. Either way I’d get an excellent education out of it, and career probably.”
Either way, she’ll need to make her decision by May 1.
But the well-spoken senior is already “very excited” about finishing her high school career and embarking on higher education.
“I am so ready,” Hallie says. “The end could not come fast enough. I’m so excited for graduation.”
While Hallie expects to pursue aeronautical engineering or aerospace engineering, she says decisions on fields of study are often reserved for the second year at the academy.
“The only thing I’m dead-set on is that I’m going to an academy,” where her four-year education, which Troy says is “valued at roughly $450,000,” will be paid by the military.
“They’re loving the free college part of it, that’s what they’re loving,” Hallie says of her parents, Troy and Julie. Her mother teaches high school biology and sixth- and seventh-grade math at Gore. Hallie also has a younger sister in the sixth grade.
Following her May 1 decision deadline, Induction Day is set for June 27 — “that’s when I have to report to the Naval Academy or Air Force Academy for the first time” — so most of her summer has been decided.
First on her schedule at the Naval Academy, assuming that’s her choice, is a six-week basic training period called Plebe Summer. Plebe Summer lays the foundation for the academy’s four-year professional development curriculum. During that six weeks, midshipmen are taught traditions of the Naval Service and the Naval Academy; basic military skills; appreciation for the high standards and obligations inherent in service as a midshipman and Naval officer; dedication to excellence in a competitive atmosphere that fosters leadership, teamwork, character and a passion for winning; appreciation for the importance of mental, moral and physical toughness; and preparedness to execute the rigorous academic year routine.
Plebe Summer is followed by the fall semester. Then after her four years at the academy and post-academy training, Hallie will begin her military career, which requires at least a five-year commitment.
“I grew up military, so that’s the life I know, until I was 13, because that’s when my dad retired,” she says. “I was already so used to moving from place to place. And I’ve gotten so many opportunities to see the world and learn so many cool things that the military gave me, so that’s my driving factor. I love that life, and I love the people you get to meet, the experiences you get to have. So I think I’d make a career out of it.”
As the daughter of a career military officer, Hallie has lived where her father was stationed: Ramstein AFB, Germany; Scott AFB, Belleville, Ill.; Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, Alaska; and Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, before moving to rural Sequoyah County on Lake Tenkiller.
So where would she like to be stationed?
“I think if I said Ramstein, that would be a given. Germany and Alaska were definitely my favorites,” Hallie says. “I think it’s amazing that you get to go live in foreign countries and learn about new cultures. That’s what I love. It’s incredible.”
More than 82,500 men and women alumni have attended the U.S. Naval Academy, including one President of the United States, five state governors, 31 members of Congress, 54 astronauts, 73 Medal of Honor recipients and two Nobel Prize winners.
“Her story should serve as an inspiration to any student attending a small rural school,” Troy proudly says of his daughter. “Hopefully she will inspire other young students in rural Oklahoma to dream big, no matter what school they attend.”
