Tester Nominates 24 Montana Students to Prestigious Military Service Academies

Senator announces 2024 student nominees for Army, Navy, Air Force, and Merchant Marine Academies

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced he is nominating 24 students to the country’s four prestigious military service academies.

Tester selected these students based on their academic accomplishments, extracurricular activities, and dedication to serving and leading in the United States military. A nomination from a member of Congress is a student’s first step in applying to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

“Montana has a proud history of producing some of our nation’s finest servicemembers, and it’s an honor to help our state’s best and brightest continue that legacy by attending one of our prestigious military service academies,” said Tester. “Their work ethic and dedication prove they’re exactly the kind of leaders we need in the military, and I look forward to watching them make our state and country proud.”

Montana students who are interested in applying to a military academy in the future can request a nomination from Tester HERE.

Tester’s Military Service Academy nominees: 

Kyle Alexander – United States Naval Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Kyle is heavily involved in band and choir at Polson High School, participating in four different choir groups and the basketball pep band. He has lettered in both band and choir every year, and he has also participated in cross country, swim and track. Kyle also received the Mathematical Award from the University of Montana Department of Mathematical Sciences.

John Beurer – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy

John is the senior class vice president at Charles M. Russell High School, as well as the chapter president of his school’s DECA Club and a two time national qualifier. He is also a member and national qualifier of the Business Professionals of America. John has made the Honor Roll every year of high school and attended the BPA and DECA National Leadership Conference.

Aedan Bingham – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy

Aedan attends Charles M. Russell High School and is a member of Business Professionals of America and student government, and has competed as the captain of both the Economic Research Team and Presentation Management Team. He placed third in the 2023 Tennis Divisional and was an All-Conference Selection. His team won first place in 2022 and second place in 2023. Academically, Aedan has made Honor Roll and Academic All-State.

Tyler Brown – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy

Tyler volunteers helping veterans connect with horses for therapy. He is a captain on the Billings West High School football and lacrosse teams, and played in the lacrosse state championship game his sophomore year. Tyler was named second team all-state in lacrosse his junior year, participated in Boys State, earned the President’ Award for Academic Excellence and is currently interning with NASA.

Kayla Candelaria-Dusek – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy­

Kayla is a member of the National Honor Society and was the junior class treasurer and will graduate from Great Falls High School. As an athlete, she qualified for state in swimming her sophomore year and lettered in both soccer and softball. She earned an academic letter and the Science Student of the Year Award.

Alicia Dale – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy

Alicia served as a Congressional Page in the Montana House of Representatives, the treasurer, secretary and vice president of her chapter of 4-H, and has attended two leadership camps. She was a captain for the Twin Bridges High School basketball team which placed second at the state tournament, placed fifth at state individual cross country and has been named to All-State teams in both sports.

Katie Dolence – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Katie is a member of National Honor Society at Ronan High School, and she serves as the vice president of both the student council and student body. She has been the girls wrestling team captain for two years, and has been named to two All-State and Academic All-State teams and has been an All-American four times.

Cooper Freitag – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy

Cooper is a member of Billings West High School’s chapter of National Honor Society and Key Club. He participates in football and wrestling, earning All-State honors twice, Academic All-State honors seven times, a top four state finish in wrestling and being named team captain in both sports. He participated in Boys State in 2023.

Ryan Galyen – United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Ryan attends Heritage Christian School where he is a member of student government, a team captain for soccer and basketball and placed fifteenth at the junior nationals in cross country skiing during his sophomore year. He earned a Distinguished Cadet Award from the Civil Air Patrol in 2023.

Keatin Hertz – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy

Keatin is a student council Senator at Billings Senior High School and participates in multiple school music groups. He auditioned for All-State Band twice, received All-State Honors for jazz band three times and is the president of the ski club. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2023.

Beckett Johnson – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy

Beckett is the co-president of Lone Peak High School’s chapter of National Honor Society and a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters. He plays soccer and was an honorable mention for First Team All-State in 2021. He was the party chairman at Montana Boys State in 2023 and earned awards at the State Bar of Montana Mock Trial Competition and the American Legion Oratory Contest.

Hannah King – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy

Hannah is the president of the Big Sky High School Key Club and a captain of the soccer team.  She is a member of National Honor Society, participated in Ecology Research with the University of Montana in 2021 and earned first place at a Model United Nations competition in 2022.

Afton Lambrecht – United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy

Afton attends Bigfork High School where she participates in basketball, volleyball and track. She has won medals at State Track and a State Championship in basketball. Afton has also volunteered for numerous causes, including making blankets for pediatric patients and wreaths for senior citizens and coaching basketball for children.

Carter Liwosz – United States Air Force Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Carter attends Skyview High School where he competes in cross country. He earned the Flight Chiefs Award for his accomplishments in USAF tech school classes and he is also an Eagle Scout.

Daniel Mattingly – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy

Daniel is a student ambassador and member of National Honor Society at Billings Central Catholic High School. He participates in football where he was named team captain and helped lead the team to the state championship game his junior year. He is the team captain in wrestling and won the 2023 Montana Open wrestling championship. Daniel has received multiple academic awards and attended the Naval Academy Summer Seminar in Annapolis, Maryland in 2023.

Seth McKamey – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Seth is the historian of Cascade High School’s chapter of National Honor Society. He also participates in basketball and track and has received academic letters and consistent honor roll. Seth holds the rank of Eagle Scout. 

Tobias Ottenbacher – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Tobias was the president of National Honor Society and Business Professionals of America at Shepherd High School. He participated in football, track and field and golf, along with being the president of a bowling league. Tobias was a state champion in Banking and Finance at the BPA in 2019. He graduated Valedictorian in 2021.

Andrew Purcell – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy

Andrew attends Hamilton High School where he participates in tennis, soccer, and cross country. He was named captain in soccer and tennis, has won state championships in tennis and cross country and earned All-State and Academic All-State awards multiple times. He received the University of Montana Physics and Computer Sciences Award his junior year.

Finleigh Schrichte – United States Air Force Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy

Finleigh attends Hellgate High School where she participates in track, skiing and lacrosse. She is a member of National Honor Society and received an Academic All-State Letter from the Future Health Professionals. Finleigh volunteers at the Missoula Public Library and with SoftLanding where she helps refugees become accustomed to Missoula.

Mason Seibel – United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy

Mason is a member of Great Falls High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC program and the president of the school orchestra. He participates in swim team and earned the Eagle of Excellence award and thirty-eight American Flag Awards from AFJROTC.

Colter Sienkiewicz – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Colter attends St. Paul’s Boarding School. He was a research assistant at the University of Delaware in 2023 and attended both the United States Naval Academy Summer Seminar and United States Military Academy Summer Leaders Program in June of 2023. He participated in soccer, wrestling, crew, cross country and hockey.

Cameron Taylor – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Cameron is the captain of the speech and debate team at Bozeman High School. He also participated in Model UN and Academic Olympics, where he earned a state championship in 2023. Cameron earned fourth place at the Lincoln Douglas Speaking National Competition in 2023.

Pi Taylor – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy

Pi attends Bozeman High School. He participated in Montana Boys State in 2023 and was elected governor of the program. He is the captain of the wrestling team and has competed for the state championship twice, and he played lacrosse including two state championships and a Second Team All-State award. Pi earned academic letters in both sports.

Alec Wells – United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy

Alec is the student body president at Charles M. Russell High School and was class president from freshmen to junior year. He participated in Boys State in 2023 and competed in golf and track. He was one of 104 students selected to participate in the 2023 U.S. Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C.