News

By DEVCOM Headquarters Public Affairs

HONEA PATH, South Carolina – U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Maj. Gen. Edmond ‘Miles’ Brown returned to his hometown recently to share his story as an Army officer with high school students and challenge them to consider a career with the Army, in or out of uniform. He leads the largest cohort of Army science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professionals, including 14,000 civilian government employees.

“My father dedicated his life to serving his community as a pastor, and that sense of serving others impacted me deeply,” Brown said. “I knew at 17 years old that I wanted to be of service in a larger sense, so I joined the Army.”

Brown visited three local high schools in South Carolina, including his alma mater, Belton-Honea Path High School. Brown said he wanted to share his story with the students because he knows they have big decisions to make in the coming years, and there are misconceptions about service in the Army.

Army senior leaders, including Brown, are traveling the country this spring to speak to students about opportunities to join the Army or to become a civilian government employee. Recruiting is the Army’s number one priority, and feedback from top recruiters indicates targeting high schools is key to its success.

In South Carolina, Brown shared his story as an Army officer, what led him to serve, the opportunities a career of service has given him and DEVCOM’S commitment to promoting STEM education. The DEVCOM team comprises eight reporting units and three regionally aligned international elements that are located around the globe.

“These students are on the precipice of the rest of their lives. I stood in their shoes – in this exact high school once upon a time – and I want them to know the Army is, and always has been, full of possibilities. The slogan ‘Be All You Can Be,’ it’s about being your best self and the Army empowers you to do just that,” Brown said.

“The Army can be an amazing stepping-stone to begin adulthood without debt and gain leadership experience and skills in high-demand trades” he said. “Or, in my case, it can be an incredibly rewarding, life-long career dedicated to making our nation and the world a safer place.”

Brown also spent time showcasing internships and civilian career possibilities with the Army, highlighting his command’s mission to research and develop new Army technologies.

“From drones to dozers and rockets to robots – DEVCOM is designing the future Army,” he said. “It’s all made possible by incredibly talented civilian scientists and engineers working for the Army.”

While in South Carolina, Brown also enlisted 11 Soldiers at Fort Jackson’s Military Entrance Processing Station where new recruits are processed into the armed forces and undergo physical and medical evaluations.

The Army will celebrate its 248^th birthday June 14, along with 50 years as an all-volunteer force.

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, is home to thousands of Army scientists, engineers, technicians and analysts working around the globe to leverage cutting-edge technologies and empower the American warfighter with the data and abilities to see, sense, make decisions and act faster than our adversaries – today and in the future.

As part of Army Futures Command, DEVCOM takes calculated risks to find new technological solutions each day. Our experts drive innovation, improve existing technologies and engineer solutions to technical challenges. Our work goes beyond theory to simulation and prototyping. We take potential science and technology solutions from the lab “into the dirt” for experimentation alongside Army Soldiers. DEVCOM prides itself as a global ecosystem of innovators, from world-class universities and large defense contractors, to small, minority-owned businesses and international allies and partners.