by KENNETH FRY, Press Argus-Courier Editor Monday, March 26, 2007 8:38 AM CDT
Wesley Robert Jackson was changing his clothes when he got the call.
The Mountainburg High School senior was getting ready to leave school in his pickup truck when U.S. Rep. John Boozman called to tell Jackson, 17, that he had been accepted for admission to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
"I am really looking forward to going to the academy," Jackson said Wednesday at the noon meeting of the Van Buren Lions Club. "This is an experience of a lifetime."
Jackson was at the Lions Club meeting to thank the members for writing a letter of recommendation to Sen. Mark Pryor, who called Jackson Sunday to offer his congratulations.
As the undergraduate college of the Naval service, the Naval Academy prepares young men and women to become professional officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. Naval Academy students are midshipmen on active duty in the Navy. They attend the academy for four years, graduating with bachelor of science degrees and reserve commissions as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Naval Academy graduates serve at least five years as Navy or Marine Corps officers.
Jackson plans to major in mechanical engineering.
He will report to Annapolis at the end of June with classes scheduled to begin in mid-August.
"It is a very structured environment," Jackson said. "Cadets get up at 5:30 a.m. to exercise, attend six classes, study from 7:30 to 11 p.m. with lights out at 11."
Jackson is the son of Niki Altes of Mountainburg and Dave Jackson of Fort Smith.
