Photo By Sgt. James Larimer | Students participate in a drone race at the U.S. Army Mission Support Battalion Mobile...... read more read more
SAN ANTONIO -- Although the Army All-American Bowl (AAB) is the nation’s premier high school football game, the play on the field is not the only showcase of excellence on display this week in San Antonio. The game will cap off a week of activities that run from Jan. 2 to Jan. 7 and provide a platform for Soldiers to engage with students, as well as families and community officials, while showcasing the Army’s latest innovations in technology and its ongoing commitment to the development of America’s future leaders.
Just outside the Alamodome is the Go Army Experience. The U.S. Army Mission Support Battalion Mobile Exhibit Company has positioned a fleet of vehicles housing exhibits that contain some of the most advanced technology the Army has to offer. The vehicles offer a wide range of interactive experiences such as “The Army Aviation Adventure,” which allows visitors to explore the many aviation careers available in the Army. Attendees can also be immersed in a helicopter mission as they experience the sights, sounds and smells in the Army Aviation Immersadome.
“We want people to come to the event, interact with the equipment, interact with the Soldiers, and get to know who and what the Army really is,” said Bill Farthing, Go Army Experience tour program manager, Army Marketing and Research Group, Arlington, Va. “The more Americans who know and understand the Army, the more they support the Army.”
Each vehicle is manned by a team of Army recruiters and exhibitors in order to better engage and educate the public about America's Army and to enhance awareness or the military among high school and college students.
“When you take someone who is very good at what they do and put them in a group and highly skilled, very good people work together they all become greater than any one person,” said Farthing. “When you come to the zone and you see the things we’ve brought, you will appreciate what Soldiers do, how they reach those levels and, what they have to do to become greater than any one individual.”
Army leaders have recognized the need to stay at the cutting edge of technological innovation to preserve the United States’ global impact in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and the Mobile Exhibit Company has brought two STEM exhibition trucks, which seek to encourage students to pursue careers in those fields.
Alongside the Go Army Experience vehicles and activities is the Ten80 STEMfest, where students, Soldiers and teachers can explore STEM career paths and participate in various interactive learning experiences. The STEMfest is conducted in partnership with Ten80 Education, a for profit company that develops and publishes K-12 STEM curriculum, trains educators in the art of STEM, and organizes events that motivate students to engage and learn over time.
“The Army sponsors ten of these events with our partner Ten80,” said U.S. Army Maj. Ivan Zasimczuk, Army Marketing and Research Group program manager, Arlington, VA. “The program, which is designed for high school students, can attract anywhere between 400-1000 students to STEM expos and a STEMfest like this one.”
During the STEMfest, students attend workshops where they are taught leadership skills, how to pitch an idea, organize the group work, and the ins-and-outs of intellectual property laws.
In addition to the interactive displays and STEM education opportunities, the Army has multiple fitness challenges set up to allow the students to test their physical fitness. The Army's physical training doctrine focuses on training for functional fitness and the stations include sled pushes and pulls, pull-ups, push-ups, low crawls, and a peg board.
“The AAB is the one time in the entire year that all of the assets we have in the country come together in one place at the same time,” said Farthing “You won’t see that anywhere but here.”
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2017 16:20 |
| Story ID: | 219505 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 142 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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