Young AFCEANS

My mission as the Regional Young AFCEAN is to improve the overall operation efficiency and effectiveness of the Young AFCEAN Program and especially create more awareness. In this effort I see the opportunity to create a strong differential between Young AFCEANs and other AFCEA members (in good context), increase not only the quantity but the quality of prospective Young AFCEAN leaders and be a mentor to rising Young AFCEANs.

The value of being a Young AFCEAN as an industry person or active duty member isn’t much different. It’s an exciting opportunity and I strongly encourage others to take advantage of AFCEA for the following reasons:

• Networking and mentorship through events and meetings.
• The activities YA do (professional development, scholarship/education programs, community service/projects, social activities) all provide great opportunities for networking (be it industry to industry, MIL to MIL or MIL to industry).
• Several of my business contacts are members of AFCEA and that gives me another forum to interface/do relationship building with them outside of “official business.”
• For YAs that are not sure the military is a long-term career path, AFCEA gives them a great networking tool to help explore other opportunities/directions outside of their Chain of Command. (I put this in hesitantly, because we don’t want to use AFCEA as a recruitment tool away from the military).
• For young military folks, the opportunity to interface with senior military personnel in a non-official atmosphere is huge.
• Being a YA is enables me to being connected. Connect with others in my field, connect with the efforts of those outside my field as well as provide a chance to give back to our community and be involved in the future of our field and community.

Many of the personnel in the association are working to support our military operations to improve our capabilities and facilitate our missions. It is rewarding to interact with those who are working to improve things for our military on the modern battlefields.

Overall AFCEA is a great association. To be involved as a YA is so valuable because our members are diverse and dynamic individuals representing an array of organizations and corporations all working to improve communication capabilities and networking for generations to come.

Mary Allison Yourchisin

Congratulations to past winners from the Pelican Chapter:

Distinguished Young AFCEAN of the Year Award
CPT Craig Stepp 2009	Mary Allision Yourchisin 2009	1LT Jennifer Huntsman 2007

Young AFCEAN Chairs