Army lands helicopter on UCCS campus, looking for recruits

A Blackhawk helicopter made the unusual appearance of landing at the center of campus at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Thursday.

The reason: to try and help recruit.

Capt. Westin Barber, Company Commander for the Colorado Springs Recruiting Company, said, “Can’t expect people in this day and age to always come to us, we have to go out and actually find people.”

Along with the helicopter, A Talon 5 robot was also brought in for students to drive.

Barber says at these events if they can get 200 students engaged out of 1,000, that’s successful. But the ultimate goal is bringing awareness.

“It’s good to get out in the local community and talk about our jobs and the opportunities,” said Barber.

Jared Peragine, a sophomore at UCCS, thinks this is a great opportunity.

“I looked at the Air Force and the Army, I’m a criminal justice major so I’m still trying to figure out if I want to do law enforcement or military, so this is something that I’m definitely going to attend and talk to the guys about,” Peragine said.

David Stutzman, a senior here UCCS, agreed and added, “I’m in mechanical engineering right now with an aerospace minor. Eventually, I’d like to get into fighter jets or helicopters.”

Barber says Thursday was a test run, now the goal is to do this every semester from here on out.