FROM STAFF REPORTS

Washington, D.C. — A local Helena teen has been selected for an opportunity most adults can only dream of. The chance to represent the United States of America to citizens of countries all over the world.

Eighteen year old Brianna Fuchs will be traveling to the United Kingdom this July to work with other teenagers from more than 19 countries, learning about them and sharing their mutual love for aviation and youth leadership.

Fuchs is a Cadet Major in Civil Air Patrol and is one of only 36 people in the country to be selected for this year’s exchange.

Lieutenant Colonel Peggy Myrick is the director of the Exchange in America.

“It’s very competitive,” Myrick said. “Being selected means showing a maturity far beyond one’s age and being a true leader in their community.”

Applicants must have earned the Amelia Earhart Award in the CAP cadet program, which less than five percent of all cadets achieve.

The International Air Cadet Exchange was started after World War II to promote goodwill and friendship between the young men and women who would one day go on to be leaders in their countries.

“It’s one of the greatest programs I’ve ever been a part of,” Lt Col. Lisa Bergeron said.

Bergeron went to Austria as a cadet in 1978, and still serves as a tour guide in Washington where foreign cadets first arrive to the United States. This year Civil Air Patrol will be hosting 36 ambassadors to America.

You can follow Cadet Major Fuchs’s journey by following IACE 2017 USA on Facebook.