WACO, TX — Twenty Fort Hood soldiers stepped on to Texas State Technical College grounds for a campus tour on Thursday.
The visit demonstrated a path that the soldiers from the Army Recovery Care Program’s Soldier Recovery Unit could take to transition back into civilian life with an education, skill-set, and wide-ranging job opportunities.
Soldiers were split up into groups that matched their similar interests, three groups explored the Automotive Technology, Avionics Technology and Building Construction Technology programs.
SRU soldiers learned about the College's Money-Back Guarantee - which reimburses graduates on tuition if they do not have a job in their field within six months after graduation. Programs included in this initiative include the Diesel Equipment Technology, Electrical Power and Controls, Instrumentation Technology, Welding Technology, and the Electrical Lineworker Technology.
“When you leave here, I want you to go to work,” said David Murphy, an instructor in TSTC’s Precision Machining Technology program. “We don’t get paid until you get a job.”
One soldier, Sgt. Larinso Morgan, said this visit provided a great introduction to the Building Construction Technology program and other technical fields he has newfound interest in.
Morgan has been recovering at Fort Hood for the past two months from injuries sustained from his deployment to Iraq. He grew up working alongside his father as a carpenter, and additionally has gained experience as a horizontal construction engineer in the army.
The SRU has toured the Texas State Technical College campus three times since last fall, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.
