Abigail LeBlanc

Abigail LeBlanc has been training her pull-up strength, she’s brushed up on her interview and writing skills and in the last two years she’s also moved from a city of 2.8 million to a town of 6,419. And most notably she received nominations to the United States Air Force Academy from Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman, and a nomination to the United States Naval Academy from Hageman.

It might seem like a lot but the Powell High School senior has a plan — she’s going to become a Judge Advocate General (JAG) after attending either the Air Force or Naval academies.

“I believe that I was nominated out of the applicants because I don’t see myself going into any branch of the military for selfish reasons or reasons to better myself. My primary goal upon entering these branches is to help others,” LeBlanc said. 

LeBlanc was raised around public service. Her dad is a police officer in Cody and prior to that he was an officer in Las Vegas. The situations that arose “in a big city environment” motivated her to serve her community and the nation as a whole, she said. 

Her family culture has influenced her chosen path: Her grandfather was retired Air Force, her aunt was in the Army Reserve and her dad’s parent’s were both in the Navy. Her father has also been helping LeBlanc throughout the process of applying to an academy. He’s helped with her training for the fitness test, given her mock interviews and modeled his own hard work and service to the community.

“It kind of influenced me primarily to be able to make sure that I’d be able to provide some sort of comfort and peace for others later in life,” LeBlanc said.

In Nevada, LeBlanc was a student at Veteran’s Tribute Career and Technical Academy where she majored in forensic science and was also a member of the school’s Army JROTC. During her time in the JROTC LeBlanc became interested in pursuing a career in the military and the Air Force caught her eye.

Then last summer, she was attending Girls State, an American Legion Auxiliary program that focuses on American government and politics, where she was selected to be in the court system.

LeBlanc served as the criminal defense attorney in a trial. She had the opportunity to stand in the Capitol building and express herself, relay the facts of the case and listen to the prosecution. This is what led her to become interested in a career as a JAG. 

“I knew I wanted that military career,” she said. “But I also found that passion for arguing and becoming a lawyer.”

The United States Air Force Academy and the United States Naval Academy are LeBlanc’s first and second choice schools to start on this path and the process has been rigorous. As she was applying for a nomination she was also applying to the academies. 

“I believe I wrote seven essays. I had to write seven essays in a matter of two months, to be able to hit the deadlines that I set for myself and then the ones to make sure that my nominations got in early,” LeBlanc said. “That probably was the hardest part, just having the motivation to continue writing. Because a lot of them were very personal essays. There was a lot of self evaluation. And even during that time, I was still trying to settle into the Powell community.”

There was a definite adjustment period, LeBlanc said, as she had lived in the same house since she was 2, but she’s grown to love the area. This year LeBlanc took up wrestling — sports weren’t offered at her Nevada school, but her grandfather is a wrestling coach and she’s had other family members involved in the sport. Wrestling at Powell High School has not only given her an extracurricular activity but it’s helped with her physical training for the academy applications. She may even wrestle in some capacity at an academy. 

So what does the future hold for LeBlanc? She’ll continue with the application process, and if she’s accepted into either academy she’ll attend for four years before going to law school. From there she’d serve with either the Air Force or the Navy until retirement where she’d continue serving people in the private sector or continue with the military past retirement age. 

“I have an … interest in becoming a Judge Advocate General … and through that, I just know that there’s conflicts inside and outside the branch and I want to be able to help resolve those and represent those who can’t entirely represent themselves in the court of law.”