Members of the 317th Recruiting Squadron in Oxon Hill, Md., are launching a year-long campaign to generate interest among students in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. “Throughout the year, our airmen will be connecting with schools all across the region to discuss the importance of STEM, and the impact it has on the future of innovation in America,” said MSgt. Buffy Brown, 317th RCS senior marketing noncommissioned officer. The unit is sponsoring the STEM 2020 Challenge by hosting an essay contest for grades six through 12. The winners will have the opportunity to visit the Pentagon and the top scorers will also have the chance to participate in the Fighter Pilot for a Day program. “STEM is in the DNA of every airman, and we look forward to partnering across the National Capital region to inspire interest in STEM for our nation’s next greatest generation,” said Lt. Col. Ravi Chaudhary, 317th RCS commander. (Washington, D.C., report by MSgt. Buffy Brown)
Some lawmakers in the Senate are advocating for a more bipartisan approach to paying for the Pentagon’s $185 billion Golden Dome missile defense project, arguing that the effort’s goal of bolstering homeland defenses has support across ideological lines but the process for funding it has been politically charged—leaving the program’s…