By Bethany Peterson/nw news editor
Students can get all those questions about the armed services answered and then talk to the Dallas Mavericks cheerleaders during NW Campus Military Days Feb. 24-25.
Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army representatives will be there both days in a competition for students’ attention.
People have misunderstandings about the programs the military branches offer today, said Staff Sgt. Mitchell Thompson, an Army recruiter. Military Days, hosted by NW career and employment services, gets the students with questions and those with answers together.
“We give [students] the latest info on the things available,” Thompson said.
One of the programs is 100 percent tuition assistance for those in the active or reserve force.
The representatives can also explain the different military career fields, Thompson said. Those who enlist choose the field they want to be trained in. Fields include both combat and rear support, such as infantry, special forces, mechanics and health care.
On Wednesday, the four branches will set up tables in front of the Bookstore 9 a.m.-1 p.m. In the past, veterans have stopped by to tell their military stories in addition to students stopping for information.
On Thursday, they will move to the space between the Student Center and WACB 9 a.m.-3 p.m. And they will need the extra room.
The Dallas Mavericks cheerleaders will sign autographs, and a basketball free throw will be set up.
An H3 Hummer will be used as a movable theater to show videos of military life, training and history as well as to provide music.
The Army will also bring a pull-up bar and have pull-up contests for prizes.
But recruiters will not give anything but information away. T-shirts and other prizes are awarded for the contests, but giving stuff away goes against military principles, Thompson said.
“In the military, whatever you get, you earn,” he said.
