Class Acts: How The National Guard Helps Students Prepare For Engineering Careers Sponsored post by Army National Guard

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Class Acts: How The National Guard Helps Students Prepare For Engineering Careers

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Demand in the U.S. job market for experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the STEM skills—is huge and growing. One cost-effective way to pursue a career in STEM-focused fields, particularly engineering, is through part time service in the National Guard while attending school and living in your community full time.

In the National Guard, a federal reserve force of Citizen-Soldiers administered on the state level, you’re trained to work “with concrete, machines, carpentry, masonry—skill sets you learn along with military skills, such as putting on a mask, shooting a rifle…swinging a hammer, driving a truck, or driving a bulldozer,” says Eric Durr, director of public affairs for the NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs. “All of that translates into a civilian job.”

Although defining what engineers do can get overly complicated, it boils down to this: They build, create, or adapt something to certain specifications to meet the need at hand.

What might that look like in the Guard? One example: When dangerous amounts of rain or snowmelt affect an area, the local Army National Guard is activated by the state’s governor to assist the Army Corp of Engineers and help prevent a levee failure. Guard members are responsible for levee patrol, security, traffic control, and sandbagging. In 2011, in response to the record flooding of the Missouri River, the South Dakota National Guard worked around the clock to help keep the levees functioning as the Gavins Point Dam released water at rates as high as 140,000 cubic feet per second. The Guard patrolled the levee, performed inspections, provided quick repairs, and provided security to nearby homes.

The skills Citizen-Soldiers develop in the Guard are extremely valuable, according to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Guilmette, commander of the 204th Engineer Battalion in Binghamton, New York. “Engineers in the National Guard do a lot of construction projects. Being an engineer—either as an enlisted soldier, an officer, or an NCO [non-commissioned officer]—you gain experience in project management. You do actual construction, whether you’re an equipment operator, a carpenter, an electrician, or a plumber—and get hands-on, real-world experience that relates to an engineering or science profession. Most college students don’t have that.”

Guilmette, an electrical engineer by trade and a principal at KW Mission Critical Engineering in Troy, NY, says his Guard experience benefited him immensely: “As a new hire out of college, I was given simple or specific tasks I was able to handle faster than others could.” In addition, he says, “The Army, National Guard, and Corps of Engineers are trying to promote and recruit officers and leaders withSTEM skills, because they need engineers, officers, and leaders to have that engineering, math, and problem-solving background.” From the Guard’s perspective, he says, “Individuals with STEM degrees have additional experience and capabilities that allow us to do more difficult tasks. We have to design things, whether it's a road or part of a building, so we have to do the planning and calculations. It’s great to have people with STEM experience.”

By serving in the Guard, Eric Durr says, “You could get a STEM degree, and that’s awesome. The National Guard allows you to go to college full time while you serve in the National Guard [part time]—and you can serve as a National Guard engineer while you study for your degree.”