White Sands Missile Range hosted an Enrichment Day for Las Cruces Public Schools high school students April 19 to showcase a variety of career opportunities and tell the Army story through the WSMR workforce and military units.
Students had a chance to sit inside a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, visit the Cox Range Control Center, view static displays, and visit instrumentation stations. They also had a chance to visit the WSMR Fire Station and view a demonstration at the Rappel Tower.
They also stopped by the Special Operations Forces-Training and Experimentation Center area to see vehicles and weapons displays. One of the highlights was a military working dog demonstration.
“Today we wanted to show you the different opportunities there are to serve your country,” said U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range Garrison Commander Col. David A. Mitchell as he provided closing remarks to the students. “I hope you got a good taste of that, and you can take away from it and plan for your future. Thank you for being here.”
Fabien Castro, a student from Centennial High School, said the highlight of the day for him was seeing a military tank and being able to actually go inside one.
“It was so awesome to learn about everything that goes into building and testing the equipment and to be part of it. When I graduate, I plan on enlisting with the Air Force. I am studying to apply for that right now so seeing all of this has been really valuable for me."
Mary Esther Beltran Smith, an Engaging Latino Communities in Education (ENLACE) teacher at Organ Mountain High School said she has a military background and was amazed that they had the opportunity to experience the event.
“I know this is something most civilians don’t get to see, and I am very happy that our students get to see and experience this. This might be the first time in their lives to see something like this and now they are aware of the opportunities that are out here.”
“It is really important for students to see the kinds of activities we do here at White Sands Missile Range,” said Darrin Loken, Chief Mission Services Division and Range Communications, who was leading students through a row of displays.
The displays included frequency surveillance, flight termination systems, a communications van and network trailer, telemetry trailers and antenna, an optics mount/camera, and a meteorology station, and GPS.
Loken said taking students through the instrumentation which ranged from high-tech, high-speed sensor systems, to frequency data and communications systems was a way to show them that not only can they come work at WSMR with a four-year technical degree but also with no degree at all.
“There is a broad gamut of opportunities here at WSMR,” he said. “The takeaway is you don’t have to have a four-year college degree. You can come out here and do various jobs where you don’t need a degree. Anywhere from maintaining all this equipment to operating it.”
Loken said students seemed to be engaged. “We had them going through the various displays so they can see what they do and how they work.”
Organ Mountain High School student Jamie Ramirez said she enjoyed learning about the weather balloon. “It has been very interesting.”
Another Organ Mountain High School student, Heidi Molina, said she found the instrumentation displays very interesting.
Students also had a chance to see a military tank display.
"Today we are displaying the M1 Abrams tank for the students to show them how the tank operates. The students always have such great questions, and we enjoy educating them on the systems we test and why testing is important,” said Ray Stringer, SRS Mechanic at SVAD.
"We are here today with a lot of students from LCPS visiting WSMR to explore different career areas and to see what it takes to run a testing range of this kind,” said Rachel Knight, LCPS Career Specialist, Career and Technical Education Team. “Many of our students aren't even aware that this is in their back yard, so it is just a wonderful experience for the students to come out and actually see what goes on here. They are learning so much about how important our location is for this amazing military post and the advancements that have come from the work done here. We are very, very happy to be here and our students are excited and enjoying the day".
During the event the White Sands Missile Range Firefighters demonstrated various aspects of life as a firefighter at WSMR Fire Station 1. Students were shown the inner and out workings of fire trucks, how to train with a fire extinguisher and what they do in their first aid tent.
Fire Capt. Michael De La Paz from Fire Station 2 shared how powerful the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting truck is with the capacity to hold 3,000 gallons of water. The students had surprised faces as they saw how fast and high the water shot from the vehicle.
“I just want to give them a general sense of what firefighting is about and how many different areas we are in and have expertise in,” said De La Paz. “We hope that the kids enjoyed it and maybe we have some future firefighters here.”
Kenny Lester, Test Engineer with Lockheed Martin and Alejandro Gomez Jr., Test Officer with MT, were at the HIMARS display answering questions. Students were interested to find out that the Army and Marines use this type of vehicle, and that the system has been provided to Ukraine for their ongoing operations. The system is tested on a monthly basis at WSMR.
The day ended with lunch at the Special Operations Forces - Training and Experimentation Center field. Students were encouraged to visit the different setups including Special Operations vehicles, Moral Welfare and Recreation, and Child Youth Services.
Josie Tate, Operations Specialist, and Kim Arrey, School Liaison, were the leads for White Sands Missile Range working with the schools to make the event happen. According to Tate, there were many man hours of logistics. The White Sands Test Center and the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range Garrison were both instrumental in providing resources and support to give the kids a realistic view into what the military does.
“Today, we got visibility in what we do here at White Sands Missile Range. We want the community over the mountain to be more aware of our mission,” said Tate. “Everything’s been great and we are happy with the feedback we’ve received from everyone involved.”
Vanessa Flores, Anne Marie Chadima and Jose Salazar contributed to this story.
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