The version of summer camp Abigail Keith chose this year is not for everybody. Keith is a rising Lake Braddock Secondary School senior and a member of the Young Marines, a national youth organization for boys and girls from age eight through high school graduation. Her summer camp was a leadership school she attended in mid July at the Naval Air Station Newport in 

Rhode Island where she graduated among the top ten graduates for her leadership qualities.

“I do it because it's fun,” Abigail said.

She started the Young Marine program when she was young, following her older brother who did the program also. Since then, she’s cleaned up trash in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, shot a shotgun on the skeet range, marched with the drill team, and acted as a mentor for the younger classes coming through the system.

“It’s built up my confidence a lot,” she said.

Abigail was in the Top 10 at this summers’ program along with fellow Young Marines from San Diego, Upstate New York and Potomac, Maryland. Col. William P. Davis, Executive Director, knows the schooling is tough on these teenagers but the rewards are much more, he said. "The demanding training is rigorous, but year after year, the NLA graduates report back that this training is invaluable in their future endeavors," he said.

There’s marching, a military uniform, and discipline similar to the United States Marine Corps but it pretty much stops there. There’s no boot camp, no screaming from the drill sergeants, and no possibility of getting killed on the battlefield somewhere down the line. That would take a full enlistment at the completion of the Young Marines, which some of her fellow classmates are intending to pursue after they graduate.

“I don’t plan on going into the military,” Abigail said. She has her whole senior year at Lake Braddock Secondary School to decide what’s coming next.

She has gotten involved with other activities at Lake Braddock and part of the Young Marine training that led to that too. She’s played on the volleyball team, was the captain of the crew team and is a member of the marching band. She credits the confidence from being in the Young Marines led to these achievements. In addition, she’s in her second year of lifeguarding at the Cottontail Swim and Racquet Club in Burke, and plans on returning to the lifeguard stand next summer too.

The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501c youth education and service program for boys and girls, ages eight through high school graduation, their description read. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral and physical development of its members, focusing on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline, so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle similar to the Boy and Girl Scouts. Young Marines got its start in 1959 and the closest unit to Fairfax County is in Quantico. There is another unit in Manassas and Washington, D.C.