In its third year, the Adventures at AMCOM educational outreach program saw 19 area students participate in a week of activities June 18-22.
This included visits to the Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Activity, the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Airfield and the Path to Nature.
"This effort affords those chosen, following a competitive application process, glimpses into what the Team Redstone materiel enterprise is all about," Carla Landers, of the Command Initiatives Group, said. "The executive officers to the deputy commander and the chief of staff -- Amy Delarosa and Roy Miller -- pulled the jam-packed agenda together, with the week's focus being on all that is done to support Soldiers."
The participating students represented Bob Jones High, Huntsville High, Grissom High, Johnson High, Buckhorn High, Priceville High, Hazel Green High, Westminster Christian Academy, Hampton Cove Middle, Challenger Middle and New Century.
"It really opened up our eyes to what happens here on the Arsenal," James Speck, a Priceville junior, said. "I was surprised to find out that Soldiers will send back how they want improvements on helicopters and missiles. I knew that the Arsenal did a lot of ordnance work, but it was revealing to find out the other work that goes on."
"There are so many different elements that go into the technology that Soldiers use," Hazel Green senior Julie Wells said. "We got to see a lot of behind-the-scenes action. We did not know about all the wires and buttons that it takes to fly a plane."
Particularly intriguing to the students was the Shadow RQ-7B Unmanned Aircraft System demonstration at the Airfield.
"I was amazed about how much it takes to maintain the system," Speck said. "It's not just one person operating the vehicle. There is a whole group of people involved in the launch and in the ground control station."
Challenger Middle eighth-grader Michael McMeen was impressed by the week. "It will help me decide about what I might want to do when I get out of college," he said. "I would encourage my friends to apply next year."
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