SEMBACH, Germany – At garrisons across Europe, dependents ages 14-22 participated in the Army in Europe Youth Summer Hire Program to gain experience working with the Army.
At Installation Management Command Europe headquarters in Sembach, six summer hires participated in the program working with human resources, postal services, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, and at the Enterprise Multimedia Center, Visual Information Services-Europe.
"I's a big job, it's an exciting job, and it's always a rewarding job,” said IMCOM-Europe Director Tommy Mize during his welcome orientation with the summer hires in June.
Some of the summer hires were just on summer break and looking for something to do over the summer. Other recent graduates used the program as a bridge between high school and college plans. Whatever their reason for applying, they agreed it was good experience and it was good to make some extra money for the summer.
“You definitely gain meaningful experience and skills from this,” said Jay Mattes who worked at EMC VISE.
“I try to make it enjoyable and fun even though it is work,” said Danny Vaughn, EMC VISE chief and supervisor of three of the IMCOM-Europe summer hires. Vaughn said he enjoys working with the summer hires each year and seeks to make it a meaningful experience for them.
“This is a summer hire experience where you’re trying to figure out what you want to do and just shredding paper is not something you’re going to want to do,” Vaughn said. “It’s not going to make you want to participate in that career field, but if you’re actually learning to plan something and learning to do design and learning how to think on your own and figure out problems, then I think that makes the program more dynamic and allows them to expand their skill set and prepare them for their future.”
In their time with EMC VISE, Mattes along with Anthony Mayuri and Peter Cole planned and produced videos, wrote scripts, produced graphics and fabricated products as part of the visual information team.
Cole said he thought they definitely got the coolest job as part of the program. “I think it’s good if you’re younger and looking for your first job, and it’s really good on a resume. Plus you get a little money over the summer.”
Each year announcements are posted around April at each garrison for the summer hire program, which runs from mid-June to the end of July and is open to dependents ages 14-22. The summer hires fill general clerical and light labor positions intended to provide overseas youth family members an opportunity to gain meaningful work experience.
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