Lewis County (West Virginia) High School seniors commit to military futures

They were joined in the school’s auditorium by faculty, Air Force JROTC students and family, along with their respective recruiters.

Burkhammer will leave for 20 weeks of basic training in the Army National Guard this August.

“Sophomore year I already decided that that was something I was going to do, that I could see myself doing,” she said earlier this school year. “No one really took me serious, but I stuck with what I said and now I’m enlisted in the Army National Guard. All of my family was really shocked when I went into the military.”

Staff Sgt. Judd Holcomb said he talked with Burkhammer during the past two years about her decision. The West Virginia Army National Guard recruiter at both Lewis County High School and Buckhannon-Upshur High School called her “a fantastic addition to the Air National Guard.”

Cossitt credited parents Mandy and Matt Bennett with motivating his enlistment during the past year. Matt Bennett served in the U.S. Army, but Cossitt said he chose the Air Force due to “better job opportunities” for him to choose from.

“I think I want to work on planes,” Cossitt said.

King will pursue an accounting degree in 2025 at Glenville State University while maintaining his monthly service requirement. He leaves after graduation for Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and someone started talking to me about the military,” King said.

King’s grandfather, Lewis County native Kenneth Henry, also served in the Air National Guard and the Air Force. Henry would talk about his service to daughter, Emily Payne, and wife Rosalind, who both attended King’s ceremony.

Like King, Payne was also part of the Air Force JROTC at Lewis County High. King will graduate as a captain before becoming a military cadet.

Sgt. Zach Ahart recruits students at 15 high schools in West Virginia. The Clay County native joined the West Virginia Air National Guard after high school and has served for eight years.

King was Ahart’s first local recruit, but Ahart also attended Military Signing Day ceremonies in Webster, Upshur and Clay counties this week. Ahart said there are other Lewis County High students interested in military service.

Cadet Trinity Hardesty, a Lewis County High School freshman, helped with Thursday’s ceremony and said she is already inspired to enlist but hasn’t decided on a military branch yet.

“They need to keep their head down, do what they’re told for a few years,” Ahart said. “Show up every day ready to work.”

Air Force JROTC Senior Instructor Timothy Miller, who was recruited into the Air Force three years after high school, said he is “extremely proud” of the three students.

“They are the future of our nation,” Miller said. “What they’re joining is a very small, very elite group of men and women who have answered that call. Service above all is the most important thing. Always, wherever they go, they’ll always have a brother or sister in arms.”

Military signees were honored across the Mountain State since Monday.