SAN BERNARDINO - A ride in an Army Black Hawk helicopter is something most people will never get to experience.
But for Brig. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, it's his normal mode of transportation.
Pittard, commanding general of Fort Irwin Army base, touched down at the athletic fields of Cal State San Bernardino Wednesday to discuss partnerships between the base and university.
"There's an initiative between the (California State University) and the United States military to make sure we're as good a set of partners as we can," said Cal State President Al Karnig.
Cal State can be a big help to the base because it offers a bachelor's degree in Arabic, Pittard said.
"There is a need for our soldiers to
Brig. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, left, commander of the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, leaves an Army Black Hawk helicopter after it landed at Cal State San Bernardino. Pittard met with university President Al Karnig to discuss creating more partnership programs between the university and Fort Irwin. (Al Cuizon / Staff Photographer)learn basic Arabic," he said. "It's very important."
Students and professors in the Arabic program could teach the language to soldiers at Fort Irwin, he said.
Basic knowledge of Arabic is an invaluable tool for soldiers placed in a combat zone in the Middle East, said Maj. John J. McBrearty, an Iraq war veteran and assistant professor of military science at Cal State's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps.
"The more you know the language the more the locals appreciate you," McBrearty said.
Pittard has suggested Cal State send students enrolled in the Arabic program to the base to act as Iraqis in role playing situations.
Fort Irwin is a training ground for platoons headed to Iraq and has full-scale towns set up that mimic the urban environment soldiers will encounter if deployed, said Lt. Ryan Upper, an assistant professor of military science at Cal State's ROTC.
Pittard has also suggested sending journalism students from Cal State's Communication Studies program to the base to act as embedded reporters in the simulation.
Fort Irwin's facilities management team manages green energy sources that power numerous facilities on the million-acre base, Karnig said.
He hopes the Army can provide Cal State with tips and training in facilities management to bring energy costs down and establish on-campus renewable energy sources.
It's a campus-wide goal to have 50 percent of the university's energy produced on-campus in a green manner by the end of this year, Karnig said.
The university also plans to establish its extended learning program at Fort Irwin and offer on-line master's degree programs in public administration and criminal justice, Karnig said.
McBrearty said it's the ROTC's presence at Cal State that sparked the relationship with Fort Irwin. The ROTC office offers a number of scholarships for anyone interested in a career as an Army officer or Army nurse.
For more information call the Cal State ROTC office at (909) 537-5533.
michael.sorba@inlandnewspapers.com, (909) 386-3872
No comments:
Post a Comment