Wednesday, January 14, 2015 // The Statement
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the Defense Manufacturing Assistance Program,
which is run through the University’s Institute for
Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy, in
conjunction with Ohio State University and Purdue University.
The DMAP project is designed to help struggling small and medium-sized
defense sector suppliers prevent layoffs, job losses and plant closures during
periods of lower military spending, such as peacetime.
Should the country need to mobilize for war, capacity and capability to
produce necessary equipment must be available, according to Larry Molnar,
ILREE associate director. Because companies that have gone out of business
can’t be mobilized in the event of an unexpected attack, keeping private sector
defense suppliers viable is important to overall military preparedness.
“We don’t want to be in the situation where we have to respond (militarily)
and we don’t have the infrastructure, and the capacity, and the capability to be
able to provide critical technology,” Molnar said.
Military industry also provides jobs and other benefits to local commu-
nities. If the companies see less demand, those communities can face hard
times. Preventing these hardships is another goal of the DMAP project, which
attempts to work with the communities to provide support as well as stabilize
firms to prevent the need for job loss.
While the DMAP project has a different mission from the Minerva-funded
social science project, the undergraduate students who work on it similarly
have the opportunity to develop a broad set of skills as well as make a differ-
ence.
According to Molnar, the students work to identify companies that might
benefit from a partnership with the project. For these students, the work
they’re doing has a tangible impact for the employees the project attempts to
help, their families and the surrounding community, in addition to contribut-
ing to national security efforts.
“What they’re doing is not a theoretical or academic exercise,” Molnar said.
“We’re working with real companies, with real people.”
At the University, another Defense Department project contributes funding
to the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers project,
which studies suicide prevention for men and women serving in the Armed
Forces.
Since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 3,000
military service men and women have died through suicide, while more than
6,800 died in combat during the same period. In 2012 and 2013, more service-
men and women died by suicide than by any other means, including combat.
“The Army STARRS project has been involved with the ways in which we
can improve the health and well-being and resilience of the American soldier,”
Jackson said.
The project, which is run in conjunction with the Uniformed Services Uni-
versity of the Health Sciences, Harvard Medical School, the University of Cali-
fornia, San Diego and the National Institute of Mental Health, represents the
largest effort to collect data on and study military personnel mental health
risk.
The Army STARRS project is rooted in psychology, representing the diverse
ways in which University research contributes to national security.
But this might come as little surprise. In 2013, the University had a $1.33
billion research budget. However, situated in Ann Arbor, far from the bureau-
cratic politics of Washington, the University’s participation in national defense
research may sometimes go unnoticed.
Such efforts allow undergraduate student researchers the opportunity to
contribute to impactful research and develop important academic skills, by
providing the opportunity to develop expertise that they may not otherwise
have gotten through traditional education.
and thinking of ways to make the battalion better and
even leave it better. Her thought process and the ideas she
has are going to bring a lot to the table.”
Through her years in ROTC, Augustine said, she has sensed a change in her
personality and anticipates her role with the military.
After graduating this May, Augustine will enter a nine-week training pro-
gram with other second lieutenant nurses, before being stationed at a hospital
in active duty.
“I feel I’ve grown a lot through ROTC,” Augustine said. “I just feel like I’ve
had a lot of personal development and the commitment seems super exciting.
I love the opportunities that are available to me because of ROTC and serving
the patient population is going to be great. I’m really looking forward to that.”
From Page 4B
From Page 5B
TOP: LSA sophomore Graham Gerdes and LSA sophomore Bryan Jones take a break during a morn-
ing training session as part of the University ROTC program; CENTER: ROTC cadets prepare for an
exercise on Ingalls Mall; BOTTOM: ROTC cadets participate in physical training four days per week at
Palmar Field (See more on PAGE 8)
PHOTOS BY ALEXA BORROMEO