Veteran of the Week: Kenneth Young
Kenneth Young (Contributed)
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By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer
MADISON – At a crossroads in his life after a year at Syracuse University, Kenneth Young decided to plunge into a life in the military in June 1981, deciding on the United States Air Force.
“It was the best alternative for me at the time,” he said.
Young, who said his ASVAB scores allowed him flexibility on choosing his specialization, took advanced electronics courses after going through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. After Lackland, Young was dealt an assignment in Mississippi, then Germany.
In 1988 Young was offered a special assignment with the Secret Service protecting candidates in that year’s presidential election. It was on the campaign trail that he met his wife, Julie, the night before the Iowa caucuses.
Other locations in which Young served were Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton Ohio, and Washington, D.C., where he and Julie had children.
In his active-duty career, Young also completed the Air Force’s Special Investigations Academy in the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the tech agent’s academy within the same office.
His last assignment was working on new counter-intelligence and law-enforcement technologies in Washington, D.C. He retired from active duty in 2001 after just over 20 years of service.
Young’s first job in civilian life was in Iowa with Rockwell Collins. In 2014 Young and his family moved he to Madison from Satellite Beach, Fla., where he began to work for Lockheed Martin. He works as the company’s general manager and vice president of Unmanned Integrated Systems.
“Every endeavor I’ve embarked on in the Air Force and Industry has allowed me to support our warfighters in meaningful ways,” Young said. “I get as much pride providing a quality product that I know saves lives as I did when I was in the service.”
