Photo By Joseph Macri | Six U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM) summer hires...... read more read more
When engineering student Adam Alamin walked into a job recruitment fair in 2021, he never expected it would open a door that would land him an opportunity he had long dreamed of.
Alamin, now an engineer assigned to Qatar with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was a student at George Mason University in 2021 when he visited a job fair ( Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM conference) and applied for a student internship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM).
TAM is the USACE District responsible for providing design, construction and engineering services to the U.S. military and U.S. allied nation partners throughout the Middle East, a region Alamin hoped to one day visit.
“Twelve years ago, before I started my engineering education, I knew I wanted to travel the world. This eventually led me to the USACE Transatlantic Division. Qatar was my top choice as the previous FIFA World Cup took my university by storm. Our professors would even delay exams to watch the exhilarating matches. Beyond being an AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) and FIFA World Cup football fan, I wanted to explore the region and continue my Arabic language study”, said Alamin.
Alamin was hired as a summer intern and was able to work for the district while still in school, an experience that was captured in a video the District produced at the time to highlight its internship opportunities. The video wasn’t the only impression Alamin made on TAM. He also impressed his supervisors who are always on the lookout for people willing to fill the district’s overseas assignments.
“We sometimes have difficulty filling some overseas jobs,” said Neal Thibault, TAM’s deputy chief of construction. “People have the impression it’s a contingency environment but it’s a vast and varied region and most of our assignments offer comfortable housing, travel opportunities and access to all the amenities you’d expect in large modern cities. When Adam reached out to us, we not only remembered him but were happy to get someone excited about the prospect of living overseas.”
Thibault also said that the district offers young engineers a chance to gain experience they may not get in other entry level positions.
“We have some really complex military infrastructure projects, and a lot of our work is for U.S. allied nation partners in the region. Our engineers not only gain experience working on a wide variety of projects but also working with other countries and large multi-national construction firms. They’re also serving their country as department of Army civilians,” said Thibault.
The district’s work in Qatar has included Qatari missile defense and air forces infrastructure as well as providing support for U.S. military personnel stationed in the region.
Alamin agreed that so far, the assignment has lived up to his expectations.
“Qatar is excellent. I knew it would be a good lifestyle, but it has impressed me beyond my wildest imaginings. I’ve never been this close to inner peace. “
Information on the Middle East District’s summer internship program featuring Alamin during his time as an intern can be viewed https://www.tam.usace.army.mil/Media/TAM-Videos/videoid/815885/dvpcc/false/#DVIDSVideoPlayer132799
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2024 16:02 |
| Story ID: | 488012 |
| Location: | WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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