Local Firefighter Sits In First Lady's Box At President's Speech

President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress and the Country on Thursday night to lay out his jobs plan. One of the guests in the First Lady's box was technician Jessica Pickett, a Fairfax County firefighter from Fire Station 35 in Springfield. Pickett is a longstanding member of the International Association of Firefighters local 2068. 

"I'm just really honored to have been chosen," said Pickett on a cell phone to Patch on her way to a reception at the White House. "We'll probably be at the White House just a few moments and then they'll shuttle us to the Capitol to watch the speech and then bring us back."

This isn't the first time Pickett has visited the White House. In 1996, 1997 and 1998, she worked for Vice President Al Gore as an intern and then writer. Pickett studied biological sciences at George Washington University, was a Marshall scholar, a Rhodes Scholarship finalist and had a full scholarship to study at Oxford. 

"But I started a family and joined the fire department," she said. "My family hails from the Boston area and I'm the fourth generation in the fire service--the first female to set down on this path."

Pickett, who lives in Stafford with her husband and two children, is a firefighter and a field medic. Last year, she was awarded the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Certificate of Valor. She now finds irony in returning to the White House.

"I'm definitely in a different chapter of my life. I started an amazing career with Fairfax County. It's an honor to represent an organization I'm so proud of," Pickett said. "I can't imagine myself doing anything else." 

The guest list for the First Lady's box includes: 

• Steve Case, AOL co-founder and chairman & CEO of Revolution LLC and chairman of the Startup America Partnership
• Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric
• Kenneth Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express Company 
• Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO  
• Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley