The U.S. Navy boasts a mighty strategic submarine fleet – the largest and most technologically advanced underwater vessels the military branch has ever had.
Military submarines protect our nation through nuclear deterrence, help safeguard maritime routes, and provide data to scientists to monitor and study sea life and seismic activity.
To maintain this nuclear-powered armada, it’s estimated more than 140,000 skilled workers from around the country will need to help build more submarines over the next decade.
Matthew Zirkle, a retired rear admiral with 36 years of naval experience, both active and reserve, knows it’ll be a challenge to recruit the needed workers, but is confident Scouts can step up to help meet that challenge. Zirkle is an Eagle Scout, earning the award in 1980. After joining as a fifth grader, he fell in love with the program, later going on a Rayado trek at Philmont Scout Ranch.
After college and commissioning, he was assigned to serve aboard multiple submarines. He went on to lead NATO’s submarine force and served as the chief of staff for U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa and the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
“Ultimately, the point of Scouts is serving others,” he says. “For some individuals, it’s putting on a uniform and serving, which is fantastic. But military service isn’t just for those who put on a uniform.”
Skills in Scouting
BlueForge Alliance (BFA) and the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) Program have launched an online platform, BuildSubmarines.com, to recruit, engage, educate, and inspire the shipbuilding workforce of today and tomorrow. You don’t have to be a nuclear scientist to support the maritime industrial base.
“We have people that design the submarines, and we have people that build them,” Zirkle says.
The site currently highlights training and career paths in additive manufacturing, CNC machining, metrology, non-destructive testing, welding, and more. These fields address quality-control inspection, operating computer-controlled machines, 3D printing, and fusing metal parts together.
Youth can be introduced to all these fields through Scouting.
The MIB Program and BFA are also sponsoring four merit badges to help Scouts see how the skills they learn and how earning those badges can lead to a career in shipbuilding. Those merit badges are Electricity, Engineering, Welding, and Robotics. The technology and concepts Scouts learn in these badges translate into real-world work necessary for constructing vessels.
On BuildSubmarines.com, you can find careers all over the country in these fields.
When they’re ready to start considering careers, Scouts should already be equipped with soft skills, like teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving. These skills are beneficial in any workplace, but they’re especially helpful when serving our military.
“The Navy has three core values: honor, courage and commitment,” Zirkle says. “Those are awesome core values. If I could add a fourth value, it’d be perseverance. I love the Scouting program because it instills discipline in a practical way. Perseverance is part of it.”
Building Submarines
For other necessary skills to build submarines, the site offers resources to connect you to training programs, internships, and entry-level positions based on your zip code. Many training programs can be found at local community colleges.
You can also find opportunities through Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM), a national training center in Danville, Va., designed to fast-track you into your career. There, you can attend tuition-free courses, taking 600 hours of instruction in four months.
“You can go in without any certain background, and 16 weeks later, you can leave this school with a skill that will give you a career,” Zirkle says. “You will have a great skill that will pay more money in the long run.”
It’s rigorous, but about 90% of those who complete the program find success in their chosen career field. Think of it like a first-year program at summer camp. Again, if a Scout so chooses, he or she should be prepared for taking such a training.
Whatever path a young person takes, there are many that make America stronger for generations to come.
“Just because you don’t put on a uniform doesn’t mean you aren’t serving your country,” Zirkle says. “You absolutely are serving. Part of that might be through building our military infrastructure.”
Inspire Leadership, Foster Values: Donate to Scouting
When you give to Scouting, you are making it possible for young people to have extraordinary opportunities that will allow them to embrace their true potential and become the remarkable individuals they are destined to be.
Donate Today