Summer 2024 IT High School Students: Field Trip to Marine Corps Base Hawaii

For the second of three field trips, 18 high school students from the P3I IT courses at UHM and WCC this summer visited Marine Corps Base Hawaii to learn about life and work “inside the fence” on a military base for active-duty and civilian personnel and contractors.

The students visited the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower where they were able to observe aircraft taking off and landing safely. The MCBH runways were especially busy with RIMPAC.

At the radar room, they were able to see how the “radar rats” track and communicate with the aircraft in the air.

The ATC Maintenance Division’s operations center showed the students the MCBH systems that support the technology used for the ATC and communications requirements.

At the 3d Network Battalion, they saw cybersecurity at work. They visited the Network Operations Center (NOC) and learned how secure systems support operations, including the ATC.

The Pacific Intelligence and Innovation Initiative partnered with Windward Community College and the University of Hawaii at Manoa to provide high school students participating in its summer programs with opportunities to see technology in action. Our goal is to ensure that people in Hawaii are aware of and can take advantage of the opportunities in Hawaii’s defense sector, especially in IT, cybersecurity, data science and intelligence. There are job opportunities in the federal government and the extensive contractor community in Hawaii.