Leadership camp brings world-wide teens together for mentoring

By Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau, 460th Space Wing Public Affairs / Published July 05, 2016

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 1 of 8

A member of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, climbs the rock wall obstacle during a challenge June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 2 of 8

Two members of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, climb an obstacle during a challenge June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 3 of 8

Two members of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, prepare to slide down a tube activity during a challenge June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 4 of 8

A member of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, prepares to climb the rock wall obstacle during a challenge June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 5 of 8

Members of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, canoe June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 6 of 8

A member of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, engages in public speaking June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 7 of 8

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 8 of 8

Members of the Youth Leadership Camp, sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs and hosted by Buckley Air Force Base, relax in tubes after a challenge June 27 – July 1 at the Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colo. Youth from around the world came together to learn leadership techniques and build confidence for their future years of high school and beyond. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Buckley recently had the unique opportunity to host, for the first-time ever outside of Texas, a youth leadership camp for 33 teens from around the world June 27 – July 1.

The camp focused on leadership building through team-based activities, such as wall climbing, canoeing, and zip-lining. The youth also engaged in classes that taught techniques and benefits of leadership.

“We had the teens face their fears and overcome the obstacles, or at the very least, attempt the obstacles,” explained Kaureen Whittaker, Youth Programs chief, when describing the challenges each youth faced. “In our post survey, the teens said that the leadership trait they most gained from the activities was confidence.”

In the past, this camp has only been held in San Antonio, Texas, but this year it was moved to Buckley. The camp is sponsored by Air Force Services Agency Child and Youth Programs.

“We are very thankful to have had the chance to host it here,” Whittaker. “Being able to bring in teens from around the world and highlight what Buckley and Colorado has to offer has been incredible. They get to see an environment that is very different from some of their home bases.”

According to the data gathered from the youth who attended the camp, 98.5% would like to go to the camp again.

“I really enjoyed the camp and the leadership, and after all of it, I still want to learn more,” said Ernesto Flores, a camp participant. “It was awesome to meet people from all over the world. I definitely want to go again next year and I am reaching out to all of my peers and trying to get them to go as well.”

If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.