 A modern missile, symbol of America's power, progress, and hope for the future. Equally, symbol of a vital challenge. From whence will come tomorrow's scientists and engineers? This film is the story of a joint effort by your Army, New Mexico State University, and Texas Western College to help meet that challenge. This is United States Army headquarters, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Out on the range, an Army hawk awaits firing. Project engineers check over this swift destroyer of low-flying aircraft. This is Don Hart, junior project engineer. Don is a new full-time employee at White Sands, but not new to missile technology. In fact, Don's background assures a promising career. How did he acquire this background? In short, how did Don Hart get here? At New Mexico State University, formerly A&M College, there is a man who can answer that question. He was Don's first faculty advisor. How did Don Hart get there? Well, to start the beginning, it was at our local high school here in Las Cruces, New Mexico that I first met Don. The occasion was College Day, oh, some five years ago. I remember joining the representatives from other colleges and universities. And our common purpose was to encourage promising students to continue their formal education. Don Hart was one of the young people I talked with that day. Don stood in the upper quarter of his class and wanted to go on to college. But there seemed to be problems. He felt he would like to be a missile engineer, but he wasn't sure that he was cut out for it. And with older brothers in college, money too was somewhat a problem. I asked if he had considered the cooperative training program jointly conducted by the US Army at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico A&M, and Texas Western College. Later at Don's invitation, I called it his home. Yes, Mr. Hart had heard of the White Sands Co-op program. It helped students work their way through college, didn't it? Well, I agreed, but explained that the primary purpose is to give practical work experience to supplement classroom theory. For Don, the program offered a way to discover early if engineering was for him. At the end of our talk, I felt that the hearts were favorably considering the co-op program. My impression proved correct. Don enrolled in New Mexico State University that summer. Later, he took the examination for entrance into the cooperative training program. The examination includes a general aptitude test. At the same time, the same examination was being given at Texas Western College in neighboring El Paso and at other points throughout the nation. The examination over, Don looked in the direction of the missile range. He wondered about his future, his career in the missile field. On the other side of the picturesque organ mountains lies White Sands Missile Range. I am the educational counselor for co-op students here at White Sands. I remember the day several years ago that Don Hart and his group first reported. Out at the launch site while we waited to see an Army Nike Ajax fired, I briefed them on the training program. I explained that as college freshmen, trainees are assigned civil service pay grade GS2, as sophomores grade GS3, as juniors GS4, and as seniors pay grade GS5. I explained that pay is received only during the work periods, about six months of each year, and that the co-op student is a full-fledged government employee with full rights, privileges, and responsibilities. I further explained that students are assigned work within the field of their special interest. Forty. His first assignment was to the Corporal Missile Project, as his major he had chosen electrical engineering with an option in electronics. He was now under the wing of his immediate supervisor and experienced graduate engineer. In the months that followed, Don was introduced to the world of electronics. Perhaps he was a little confused at first. But his time passed, his confidence grew. A number of strange new terms crept into his speech, such terms as shake table, impact test, high altitude chamber, and climatic test. The more Don learned of missile technology, the more he thought he was going to like it. He grew to rely upon his supervisors. The supervisor is a key figure in any cooperative education program. He not only assigns appropriate tasks, but evaluates the student's work, reports on his progress, and reviews his monthly work reports. In fact, the supervisor's role is so vital, he is sometimes called a field faculty member. Yes, my supervisors were a big help. So was everybody, my faculty advisor, the people at White Sands, and the other co-ops in my class. There were times I needed help. Take that course in vacuum tube amplifiers, for instance. That one really had me stumped. But the life of a co-op is not all work. I'll never forget the experiences in ROTC. Then there were the sports events, the social occasions, and life in the fraternity house. This is the rocket engine test stand where I worked in my junior year. This stand was built to hold a rocket engine stationary while as much as a half million pounds of thrust blasts from its nozzle. These are the portholes of the instrumentation room where I worked. I'll never forget the excitement I felt during my first actual static test. The countdown was x minus 30 minutes. My job was to assist in checking out the instrumentation. Frankly, the assignment had me worried. I'd managed to pass that course in vacuum tube amplifiers and other qualifying courses, but I didn't feel I'd really grasped many of the finer points. As we checked over the instrumentation, propulsion experts performed the last precise operations prior to firing. Time is x minus 5 minutes. All personnel, clear test area, and take cover. As the minutes ticked away, the complex instrumentation system was readied by careful plan. Banks of recorders were set to register hundreds of channels of information on the engine's temperatures, pressures, thrust levels, relay operations, and flow rates. Time is running on x minus 20 seconds, x minus 20 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Thanks to this and similar practical experiences, the theories they taught me in the classroom began to make a lot more sense. I felt more certain than ever I found the right field. A conference was called during Don's senior year. We wanted the students' help in evaluating the co-op program. These students had worked in practically every major operation on the missile range. Civil engineering majors had learned surveying techniques for highly precise positioning. Electrical and mechanical engineering students had helped to fire the missiles and to track them through their supersonic flight. Physics majors had helped operate the intricate chain radar system. Co-op students had also helped conduct hundreds of other operations of widely different types. And after the tests were made, co-op mathematics students assisted in computing the data. Yes, co-ops have made a valuable contribution in carrying out the White Sands mission. After five years of study and work experience, Don's class received their degrees. He and a number of other graduates accepted positions at White Sands. Well, that's how Don Hart got here. He's now a full-time professional employee at White Sands missile range. Classification, electronic engineer, future unlimited. Twice each year, Don will see the new class of co-op students on the viewing stands. He knows they face a challenge. Very survival may depend upon Don and his colleagues. In any event, the big challenge will remain. A challenge as big as space is big.