Utah Military Academy was host to U.S. Representative Blake Moore on Friday, April 26th. Moore spoke to the cadets about their futures and some important issues facing the country that they need to be aware of as citizens of the United States. During the assembly Cadet Jonathan Kaiser had the opportunity to ask questions posed by the government classes to Congressman Moore before opening it up to dialog between the Congressman and the cadets.
Following the assembly, Major Workman took Moore on a tour, which the Congressman seemed to enjoy, even shooting a bow and arrow. After the tour, Moore said “I was really surprised by this school. I had thought that everyone here was trying to get into our military, but the students here have a very diverse range of goals and ambitions.”
Congressman Blake David Moore, former diplomat and long-time Utah resident, ran and won office back in 2020 and assumed office on January 3, 2021.
Graduating high school in 1998 from Ogden High school, Moore had accomplished a lot already. He had achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and won the Wendy’s High School Heisman scholarship for football. He studied at Utah State University from 1998-1999 before deciding to serve a mission with the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Seoul, South Korea. After he got back he went to the University of Utah, where he got a Bachelors in Behavioral Science. Following graduation he got a job with Orbit Medical as a sales representative in Salt Lake before upgrading to become an Associate Program Manager for General Dynamics in Washington, D.C. in 2007 before becoming a Business Development Consultant in Singapore. After gaining such an impressive resume he was able to become a diplomat before transitioning to the Cicero Group where he decided to stay for 8 years before leaving to work for the House of Representatives representing Utah’s First District. In 1998, he was recognised as the Athlete of the Year by the National Football Foundation and in 2009 he was inducted into the Ogden High Hall of Fame. Currently he is the Vice Chairman of The Republican Conference, a position he recently gained after the ousting of speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The relationship between Congressman Moore and UMA started back in 2020 when our honor guard team presented the colors at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Utah where they held a political “Roast” and farewell to our previous representative, Rob Bishop. The cadets on this color guard team were Jonathan Kaiser, Cami Kaiser, Gavin Brandon, and Brylee Taylor.
The next big interaction Utah Military Academy had with Moore’s office was at the American Legion Boys State where a member of his staff, Anthony Coombs was a counselor for Stephenson City. Cadets Jace Greenamyer and Jonathan Kaiser met him and were offered an internship in Moore’s office. Cadet Kaiser was initially the only one who took the internship with the office in June of 2023. However early in September, Cadet Greenamyer joined him, and they continued their internship until December of 2023. When asked about the internship, Cadet Greenamyer said, “It was an amazing opportunity to learn more about our country’s federal government and make some good contacts along the way.” Unfortunately Cadet Greenamyer’s internship period ended in January of 2024 and Cadet Kaiser’s internship period ended in February of 2024. Recently, Cadet Bhavjeet Kaur and Cadet Mallorie Andersen began their internships with the congressman and both of their internships are ongoing.
In addition to the internships our school has had with his office, in April 2024 Cadets assisted Congressman Moore with setting up for a town hall meeting he had at the Hill Aerospace Museum where they got to meet him and ask him questions.
UMA hopes to have a continued relationship with the Congressman in the future, and the accomplishments that the cadets have had because of opportunities he has provided are something that UMA can be proud of.
