Education benefits, desire to serve still attract Iowans to Guard

DES MOINES - After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the Iowa Army National Guard saw a spike in enlistment as patriotic Iowans joined the war on terrorism.

That patriotic fervor may have ebbed, but Iowa Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Timothy Orr says young Iowans still join the Guard out of a desire to serve their state and nation - as well as the age-old 'see the world” motivation that inspired previous generations.

However, with many Iowans saying they can't afford a postsecondary education, college assistance may be the No. 1 reason people join the Guard, he said after delivering his eighth annual Condition of the Guard address last Tuesday to a joint session of the Iowa Legislature.

'We survey new recruits and a larger percentage of them want to take advantage of the education benefits,” Orr said.

According to Iowa College Aid, 33 percent of the 175,000 Iowans filing college financial aid applications in 2014-15 expected their family contribution to be zero. Another 14 percent expected their family contribution to be less than $2,500.

The state-funded Iowa National Guard Education Assistance Program is a pretty strong recruiting tool, he says.

This year, nearly 1,200 Guard members are getting up to 100 percent of their tuition paid at the regents' universities and community colleges. The Guard pays the same amount toward tuition at private colleges.

In addition to being a recruiting tool for the Guard, it helps keep young Iowans in the state as they gain skills, Orr says.

'Coupled with offering unique, real-world STEM opportunities, the Iowa National Guard provides a strong foundation of education, service and flexible career options to young Iowans across the state,” he told lawmakers, referring to the education focus on science, technology, engineering and math.

STEM opportunities in the Guard have never been greater, he said. 'From intelligence gathering and analysis, to aviation, to communications, to cyber security, we have dozens of part-time and full-time positions that utilize state-of-the-art technology and application of STEM disciplines.”

Orr sees that as a win-win for the Guard and its members, who in addition to the military-oriented training they get in cybersecurity, for example, also continue to develop their technology skills in civilian jobs.

In his remarks, Orr cited the example of a Des Moines Guardsman whose day job is conducting penetration tests on the security architecture of computer networks.

The Guardsman also attends community college and one weekend a month serves with the 168th Cyber Operations Squadron where he applies his civilian skills to protect the Department of Defense computer network from foreign and domestic cyber threats.

Too often, he says, the military trains people in high-tech fields only to later lose them to corporate jobs.

'But we offer an opportunity to hone those skills and they don't leave for corporate. Instead, they can come to us from corporate,” he says.

Orr can see the possibility of a non-military service corps, especially in high-technology skill areas. Guard personnel work closely with the Cyber Corps at Iowa State University to promote STEM opportunities and connect with students interested in those job opportunities.

He thinks young Iowans might welcome those opportunities to serve their state and country without a military obligation.

'This generation is looking for service opportunities and ways to find meaning,” Orr says.

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