FREEPORT, Ill. — The U.S. Army is looking for a few good mechanics and sent instructors to Freeport High School Tuesday to tout the benefits of a military mechanic job.
Students in an automotive class were able to explore an Army Humvee in the high school automotive workshop and heard from personnel from the U.S. Army Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic School at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
The military "is a whole community within itself," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David Raffield. He asked students what kind of career they wish to pursue after completing their education. Answers ranged from law to psychology, medicine and mechanic jobs.
People in every one of those fields are needed in the U.S. military, Raffield said.
"This visit is an effort to show that every single individual in the military has an occupational specialty," said Master Sgt. Alvin Francis, one of three senior maintenance managers at Fort Jackson. "We're here to brief students on some of the things we do from day to day."
Francis, a native of the Virgin Islands, is a good example of how students can benefit from education and career opportunities offered through the military.
"The first place I landed when I came here was Fort Knox, Kentucky," Francis said. He attended the mechanic school at Fort Jackson and served four years in the National Guard, then another 26 years in active duty in the Army.
Francis has two master's degrees — one in logistics management and another in transportation management — and is working on a third in project management as he prepares to retire from his military career and find work as a civilian. The U.S. Army has paid for his entire education, he said.
"I'm just trying to get that step ahead when I get out in a few months," he said.
"The USA will get that ticket paid for," Raffield told students regarding earning an education through the G.I. Bill.
An army mechanic is more than an auto mechanic, said Raffield. The job covers maintenance of cannons, air conditioners and tanks, as well as heavy construction equipment, like bulldozers and pavers.
"Now it's a one-stop shop," he said.
