Soldiers invited to Career Day at Marksville Elementary

Louisiana National Guard
Story by Spc. Scott Longstreet

Date: 11.20.2008
Posted: 11.20.2008 21:01
News ID: 26605
Soldiers invited to Career Day at Marksville Elementary

By Spc. Scott D. Longstreet
225th Engineer Brigade

MARKSVILLE, La. – Louisiana Army National Guard Soldiers from the 1020th Vertical Engineer Company of the 527th Engineer Battalion in Marksville, La., made an appearance during Career Day at Marksville Elementary School on Oct. 9.

Sgt. 1st Class Clint E. Armand of Marksville, La., the readiness non-commissioned officer for the 1020th, was invited to the two-day event to talk about the Louisiana National Guard and what the local unit does for the community.

"We spoke last year and were invited back to speak again this year. We spoke to two sixth-grade classes and four fifth-grade classes," he said.

Armand was accompanied by Spc. Johnathan J. Jeansonne of Mansura, La., a supply augmentee at the company. The two Soldiers spoke on various topics during their time at the school.

"We discussed the history of the National Guard as a whole and current operations on the state level. We passed around documents and put some information on the overhead projector to discuss both history and current operations in the state of Louisiana," Armand said.

"Moreover, we talked about the role the Marksville unit plays for the state and its role during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. We explained that the major portion of the 1020th's effort was transporting equipment, road clearing and assisting the power companies any way we could," he said.

Once the presentation was complete, the floor was opened for the students to ask questions. The bulk of the questions were about careers and jobs within the National Guard.

"The kids asked questions and were curious about whether or not we went to Galveston, Texas, to support the hurricane efforts there. The majority of the questions, however, related to careers and college. They were very interested in knowing how to join and what kinds of careers are available in the National Guard," Armand said.