{"id":2771,"date":"2018-04-09T14:49:49","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T14:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2018-04-09T21:40:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T21:40:17","slug":"airshow-military-present-need-for-students-to-pursue-technical-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2771","title":{"rendered":"Airshow, Military Present Need for Students to Pursue Technical Fields"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Walking around and observing the jets, planes and military personnel at Texas State Technical College in Waco\u2019s airport during the recent Heart of Texas Airshow was technical education in action.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see the high visibility end of the military, such as the U.S. Navy Blue Angels performing in their F-18 jets, you have to recognize that there are a whole bunch of support technologies that work behind the scenes to make that happen,\u201d said V. Carson Pearce, TSTC\u2019s statewide Transportation Division director.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides flying airplanes and sailing in the world\u2019s oceans, the Navy and other military branches use members for jobs in cyber security, aviation maintenance, electronics, hydraulics, avionics, architecture and other technical fields. These coincide with some of the programs TSTC offers to students with military and nonmilitary experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Air Force is huge in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics),\u201d said Capt. Cody Wilton, a member of the U.S. Air Force\u2019s Air Combat Command A-10 Thunderbolt II Demonstration Flight Team who grew up in Mineral Wells. \u201cWe are looking for those career fields. I hope the airshow can motivate students to look into the Air Force. We can show what we have to offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bryson Padgett, 20, of Mason and an Aircraft Powerplant Technology and Aircraft Airframe Technology major at TSTC, became interested in aviation because his grandfather was a U.S. Air Force pilot. Padgett hopes more people would become interested in aviation after attending last weekend\u2019s airshow and attending Navy Week events throughout Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it can get people excited and see what aviation has come to,\u201d Padgett said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter Wollaston, an E6 in maintenance control for the Blue Angels who grew up in Georgetown, said working in aviation maintenance in the military is the pinnacle of aviation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you watch us work, it is some of the most impressive maintenance work you will ever see,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wollaston graduated in 2010 from Georgetown High School and joined the Navy at 17. He said his favorite part about airshows is seeing the youth become excited when seeing Blue Angels and other Navy personnel in their uniforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jordan Perschke, 22, of Katy is an Aircraft Powerplant Technology and Aircraft Airframe Technology major at TSTC. He said he enjoyed seeing people visit the campus for the air show and planned to talk to pilots about their planes and learn how they function. His career goal is to work for American Flyers or American Airlines.<\/span><\/p>\n

The airshow coincided with Navy Week in Waco, a celebration of the Navy\u2019s work throughout the world as exemplified by visiting military musicians, sailors, pilots and others talking to schoolchildren, city and county leaders, residents and veterans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s very important to have some technical training, you know whether it\u2019s from a technical college like this or like I got from the Air Force,\u201d said SSgt. (E5) Teryance Horrace, a Groveton, Texas, native working in aircraft maintenance for the A-10 Thunderbolt II Demonstration Flight Team. \u201cIt\u2019s very beneficial to your career.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Walking around and observing the jets, planes and military personnel at Texas State Technical College in Waco\u2019s airport during the recent Heart of Texas Airshow was technical education in action. \u201cWhen you see the high visibility end of the military, such as the U.S. Navy Blue Angels performing in their F-18 jets, you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2772,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions\/2772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}