Local woman was invited by Senator Menendez to serve as screener

By Laurie Gordon
Dr. Heidi Amelia-Anne Weber, who was recently promoted to the academic rank of Full Professor of Military History/History at SUNY: Orange, was invited by one of Senator Menendez's staff to be one of the screeners at the Academy Picture Day with Senator Menendez on June 7. This honor was bestowed upon her for her past initiative as a screener for those seeking military appointments.
“While at an event at the end of 2017, I had made the acquaintance of a man who was one of Senator Cory Booker's Military Academy screeners,” the Fredon resident said. “We had a nice discussion about this and I shared with him that I had been interested in serving on one of the service academy screening boards. As a professor of military history (and as a woman) he thought Sen. Booker would be interested in having my input, and my curriculum vitae was forwarded on to Sen. Booker's office.”
In October of 2018, Weber was invited to serve as a Service Academy Interview screener for Senators Booker and Menendez.
“In November of 2018, I conducted interviews at NJIT and at Rowan University for New Jersey residents who were seeking appointments to the United States Military Academy at West Point, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Merchant Marine Academy,” Weber said.
The following month, she conducted make up interviews at Senator Menendez's office and on all four of these interview days, she conducted the interviews with either one or two other people. Many were academy graduates including Blue and Gold officers, USMA Field Force Representatives, officers in the military, etc.
“The interviews were an amazing experience,” Weber said. “It is truly invigorating to see what today's high school students are doing -- their volunteer work (many are projects that they have created), their scholastic accomplishments, their versatility in the field of athletics. I was truly honored to be a part of these interviews. It certainly gives one great confidence about our future. I was very happy to see how many people are interested in getting an appointment to one of the service academies as well as to see a genuine desire to serve and protect our great nation.”