Brittany Sousa of Rehoboth Attends National Student Leadership Conference

In February, 2015, Brittany Sousa, received an invitation to participate in the National Student Leadership Conference where she would choose which conference she would like to participate in. Since she is interested in law, she could have chosen International Diplomacy or Law and Advocacy at Yale University, Political Action and Public Policy at American University, or Mastering Leadership at University of California, Berkley or Northwestern University in Chicago. However, she decided to attend the Intelligence and National Security conference at American University in Washington, D.C., for which she had to be an American citizen and pass Federal background check. Once this was done, her 5 day journey was to start on July 7th.

At American University she was one of 100 students from all over the US that participated in this conference. She then learned the main event of the conference was a National Security Crisis simulation. During her conference, she met Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who was a few minutes late because of the Wall Street hack that morning. He told the students about how he got his job, what he does, and some of the challenges he faces. Because Secretary Johnson is a high ranking government official, he has coin that is designed by him that has his insignia. He brought five of these coins with him to the meeting and Brittany received one. He is seventeenth in line to be president.

Brittany also went to the Pentagon. While waiting to enter, a group of Air Force generals from around the world were also entering for a meeting. Some of the countries she was able to identify were Brazil, Russia, South Korea, Israel, and England, amongst others. While at the Pentagon, she met Lt. Gen. Robert Otto, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance for the U.S. Air Force. He explained the progression of technology used by the Air Force in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, the future of military intelligence, and the use of drones in combating ISIS.
Next, Brittany went to the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters. There she got a tour of the National Cryptology Museum and learned the progression of codebreaking from the Ancient Egyptians to now. She was able to crack a code on an actual German Enigma machine from World War II. Brittany also met with two members of the NSA who told them all about different intelligence gathering techniques and what the NSA actually does.

She also went to a lecture on National Security from Dr. Vince Houghton where the focus was on the CIA’s involvement in national security and gathering intelligence and met with Special Agent C. Bryan Paarmann, Deputy Assistant Director Counterterrorism Division of the FBI. He spoke with the students about what skills are needed to become an FBI agent, what the counterterrorism division does, and explained the FBI’s role in national security and intelligence.

At American University, it was time for the mock National Security Crisis. She was the Director of the NSA for her crisis. The mock crisis was based on a the fictional country of Maraq, situated on the Gulf of Oman next to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, a small group of armed rebels, members of the terrorist organization Al Seif, led by Tariq al Coman and Prince Qadir, entered the capital Fujar and had taken the palace. King Akbar III and Crown Prince Feroz had been taken prisoner and moved to an unknown location. They demanded that the U.S. remove all people, military, and influence from the country. Tanks would remain outside the embassy and the rebels had been ordered to wait 24 hours before attacking. They also had three U.S. Marines in prison for the supposed beating and raping of two women the month before. The group met a total of three times throughout the conference. The students dealt with propaganda, beheadings, and an oil crisis, amongst other things. They were the only group out of any of the crises to not go to war. Their president was also impeached for buying tons of peanut butter with tax payers’ dollars.

After the crisis, the students were told that they be visiting Arlington National Cemetery and four of the 100 students would be picked to lay a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Solider. In order to even be considered they had to write an essay on why they should get that honor. She was given the honor of being one of the four students picked.
Brittany had volunteered to become a National Student Leadership Conference ambassador. NSLC puts her in contact with other students in what would be considered the Rehoboth area that are thinking about joining the conference so she can share her experience.

After returning from DC, Brittany has been interning at The Office of the Bristol County District Attorney in Attleboro. She is learning what it is to be a prosecutor while working with ADA’s and speaking with judges and defense attorneys. She also had the privilege of meeting Bristol County DA Tom Quinn.

She was also asked to participate in the Youth Cabinet by Congressman Joseph Kennedy’s office during her senior year and has also been chosen to be an intern for the Congressman Kennedy (D) for the summer of 2016. She will continue her internship at Coastal Legal Affiliates in Fall River.

Brittany is a senior at Dighton Rehoboth Regional High School where she is a member of the Mock Trial Team, DR Marching Band and National Honor Society. She is looking to major in law after high school. She is the daughter of Linda and Manuel Sousa of Rehoboth.