XENIA — Congressman Mike Turner visited Xenia High School Tuesday morning to facilitate a career expo in conjunction with key Wright-Patterson Air Force Base officials.
The juniors and seniors who attended learned about job opportunities, internships, and summer programs at the base.
Student representative Houda Loukssi, welcomed Turner and spoke about his career affiliation with WPAFB. After his election to Congress, Turner became an advocate for the base and other Ohio military installations while on the House Armed Services Committee.
Addressing the students, Turner said “this is a great time and opportunity to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — the jobs are available to you. Set a goal, set a path, you have a great future in this community.”
Turner said that he and Xenia Mayor Sarah Mays came up with the idea a year ago of having base personnel come to the school to speak about career opportunities for students — how to qualify and apply for entry-level positions in engineering, intelligence, and human resources, among others.
“Today was an incredible opportunity for our high school students,” said Mays. “I’m so thankful for Congressman Turner and his staff for putting together such an outstanding panel of representatives from WPAFB. It was an honor for Xenia to host this inaugural event.”
Superintendent Dr. Gabe Lofton said Turner’s visit and message to the students about setting goals came at an opportune time.
“We are moving forward and setting strides,” he said. “This a great opportunity for our students to learn about jobs and careers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.”
Wright-Patterson has recently added 15,000 jobs on base and remains the largest single-site employer in the state of Ohio. Turner was instrumental in securing $182 million in federal funding for construction of a new National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the Air Force’s primary source for foreign air and space threat analysis.
Guest speakers, representing various commands on base, briefed the students on job opportunities and presented videos of what jobs were available and what each command/directorate represented.
Speakers included Stacey Robinson and Michael Cole, human resources specialists; Marcus DeLoye, a patrolman with the 88th Force Support Squadron; LeAnna Gorman, a senior management analyst in the Force Development Flight; Ashley Morgan, Talent Acquisition Branch chief for the Air Force Research Lab; and Dr. Cassie Barlow, former 88th Air Base Wing and Installation Commander at WPAFB.
All participants and panelists emphasized to students “what you do now matters” — underscoring the importance of maintaining a good GPA and choosing a career path that “fits.”
Turner has served as the U.S. representative from Ohio’s 10th congressional district since 2013. After serving on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) since 2015, Turner was appointed as the chairman of HPSCI in January 2023. He is Dayton’s first elected official to serve in a leadership role on a national security committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Reach Karen Rase at 937-502-4534.
