Hundreds of Downey students attended a Downey Military Career Day last week. Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY -- The US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines came together at St Pius X-St. Matthias Academy to give Downey students a glimpse of what a military career can offer.

On Feb. 22, students from Downey, Warren, Columbus, Calvary Chapel Christian, and St. Pius X high schools were able to ask questions and discuss options with representatives from each branch of the United States military at Downey Military Career Day.

This was the first event of its kind for Downey Unified School District. District officials hoped it would provide another potential avenue for young adults to take post-graduation.

“What we want to do as a school district is provide as many options as we possibly can for our students moving forward,” said Superintendent Dr. John Garcia. “Military day is a part of that because there is a lot of careers associated with it, there are scholarships associated, there are different things that they can leverage to get further [in] their education, to be a part of that and learn a vocational skill along the way.

“We know not every kid is going to take the opportunity to be a part of the military, but its certainly worth investigating as part of their future.”

The city was also well represented, with Mayor Pro Tem Rick Rodriguez and former mayor Mario Guerra – who currently serves as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army – addressing students.

Rodriguez, a long outspoken supporter of the military in the community, said that he believed many of the students who attended the event had questions of “what if.”

Downey students learned about career options in the military. Photo by Alex Dominguez

“What if I sign, what if I join and I don’t like it? What if I don’t like the discipline? What if I don’t like the rank…what if I don’t like it, how do I get out?” said Rodriguez. “I think you need to remind yourself that in the United States military, it’s an all-volunteer military and we can go to war at any given time…I’m sure it’s on their mind. But my youngest son said it the best, ‘I’d rather live one day as a lion, than my whole life as a lamb.’

“You have to reach down deep in your heart and find your passion, and those of us who really love this country will do whatever it takes to defend her. Sometimes defending her is just building a website for the army, or being a photographer, or being a dentist, or a paralegal. Sometimes it’s really being the infantry and the artillery.”

Guerra said that the military is a career and education choice, but it’s not for everybody.

“We’ve got 340,000 soldiers that have post-secondary degrees in the last 10 years,” said Guerra. “There’s 150 different career opportunities in the United States Army; 99 percent of them are translatable/relatable to civilian life – from engineering, from construction, from aviation, from cyber technology – infantry is just one of them.”

Mario Guerra, a civilian aide to the secretary of the army, addresses students at Military Career Day. Photo by Claudia Gomez

Guerra said that he hoped the career day would serve as a model for potential similar events to form within the region.

“My goal is to have 10 of these within other cities in LA County to have the same thing,” said Guerra. “We have an all-volunteer army, so our job is to make sure we’re not selling, we’re marketing. Marketing is simple as letting them know what’s available to them…the opportunities are immense.”

Military gives other options to students post-graduation