Photo By Staff Sgt. Courtney White | PITTSBURGH – Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Marines teach engineering students...... read more read more
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PITTSBURGH – Marines with Marine Corps Recruiting Command partnered with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) during the NSBE 44th Annual Convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, March 21-25, 2018.
During the five-day event, Marines were able to generate and increase awareness of Marine Corps career opportunities within the African American community through a two-day career fair; NSBEFit: Body, Mind and Soul; Chapter Officer’s Leadership Breakfast and a wake-up and workout.
The partnership between the Marine Corps and NSBE is intended to create the opportunity for Marines to connect and build lasting relationships with conference attendees.
“Having partnerships, like the one we have with NSBE, is important because we have a diverse enlisted corps and we want a diverse officer corps as well,” said 1st Lt. Terrence Stephens, the officer selection officer for Recruiting Station Indianapolis. “NSBE is an association that can help us build that diversity.”
According to Stephens, the Marine Corps benefits from the partnership because it provides exposure to a large diverse population that may not have known about avenues to become a Marine Corps officer.
NSBE, a nonprofit organization, supports and promotes the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology. The organization’s mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.
On Thursday and Friday, the Marines’ career fair booth hosted a Marine Corps flight simulator and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment for students to engage with.
Among the Marine Corps equipment displayed was an MK-2 Mod 1 Talon robot, which is used to assess situations and identify possible explosives before sweeping an area with an improvised explosive device (IED) detector. The MK-2 robot allows Marines to get visuals on a threat without endangering themselves.
“I thought the robots were incredible,” said Jeanette Greene, a senior civil engineering major at the University of Missouri – Columbia. “My task was to grab a tennis ball in the distance with the robot. The robot, itself, was comprised of two different arms and with the help of one of the Marines, I was able to figure out all of the controls on the box and have a successful mission.”
“I’ve never really interacted with a robot before and the whole experience got me really excited about robotics,” added Greene.
During the career fair, the Marine Corps officer selection officers and recruiters were also able to engage one on one with qualified prospects and conduct interviews on site.
Following day one of the career fair, the Marines participated in NSBEFit, a program created to promote working out through friendly competition.
The students were able to engage in circuit workouts with Marines including tug-of-war, ammunition can maneuvers, tire carries and buddy drags. The workouts also allowed the students to engage with each other through competitive workouts.
Additionally, on Saturday morning, participants had the opportunity to attend a wake-up and workout hosted by the Marines.
Through both NSBEFit and the wake-up and workout, Marines were able to introduce the participants to the Marine Corps ethos, the importance of being physically fit, and share Marine Corps leadership lessons.
“I like to see that organizations care about diversity,” said Greene. “It’s one thing for companies to say they care about diversity, but it’s another for them to actually reach out to those people. So seeing Fortune 500 companies and military branches actively reaching out is great – they’re saying we want you here, we want you on our team! It really shows that they're striving to recruit diverse personnel, so that their company truly reflects the United States population.”
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 03.25.2018 04:51 |
| Story ID: | 270525 |
| Location: | PITTSBURGH, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 363 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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