Future Soldiers visit NIE to see equipment of future

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., July 1, 2011 -- Future Soldiers from the El Paso Recruiting Company toured Condron Airfield where the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Tactical Operation Center was located during the Network Integration Evaluation event in White Sands Missile Range, N.M., June 24, 2011.

Approximately 13 future Soldiers had the privilege to see firsthand what they might experience upon completion of their initial training with the Army.

“This is actually the second time we’ve done this,” said Staff Sgt. Luis A. Tirado, El Paso Recruiting Company, station commander. “We haven’t done it in a year, but we usually try to do future Soldier functions once a quarter.”

“We were going to have the function at the park and have a cookout, play flag football and do a little physical training, when my commander told me her husband wanted to know if we wanted to go out to the TOC (tactical operations center), with the future Soldiers,” said Tirado.

“I think it’s a great idea to bring them here,” he added. “We wanted to get the future Soldiers familiarized with the Army vehicles and equipment that the Army has. We also wanted to give them the opportunity to see what the Soldiers do and what to expect once in the Army.”

They seem to have enjoyed the visit, he said. They had the opportunity to get inside some of the vehicles like the M109A6 Propelled Howitzer, see the Tactical Unmanned Aerial System and learn about the XM-7 Spider Networked Munition System.

The future Soldiers are in the Delayed Entry Program, a program where you can enlist now and a place will be reserved for your training, up to a year.

“This is awesome,” said Luis A Ivarra, a future Soldier. “I leave in July for boot camp. I’m pretty excited to be going in the U.S. Army.”

Related Links:

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