Participants from the U.S Army Summer Hire Program at Chièvres Air Base, SHAPE and U.S. Army Garrison Benelux-Brussels, pose with garrison leadership during a recognition ceremony at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, July 29, 2022. Seventeen USAG Benelux students participated in this year's U.S. Army Summer Hire Program from June 21 to July 29, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Julie Piron, USAG Benelux Public Affairs)

Summer hires lend hand to USAG Benelux

Story by Meredith Mulvihill, USAG Benelux Public Affairs

CHIEVRES AIR BASE, Belgium – As the school year begins, many students may be reflecting on a summer spent travelling or relaxing with friends. Some students in the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux region, however, volunteered to spend their summer differently. 

Seventeen USAG Benelux students participated in this year’s U.S. Army Summer Hire Program from June 21 to July 29, 2022. 

Designed to offer meaningful work experience, foster good work ethics and promote responsibility, the annual program offers clerical and light laborer positions to U.S. Family member dependents from ages 14 to 22. 

During the six-week program, Benelux participants worked at a variety of locations at Chièvres Air Base, SHAPE and USAG Benelux – Brussels in Belgium and USAG Benelux – Brunssum in the Netherlands. 

Ricky Saldaña

Ricardo Saldaña sorts mail during his Summer Hire job at the post office on U.S. Army Garrison Benelux – Brunssum, the Netherlands, July 28, 2022. Summer Hire program participants worked at a variety of locations across the USAG Benelux footprint. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Allen, USAG Benelux – Brunssum Post Office)

“We did all kinds of work,” said 11th grader Ricky Saldaña, one of three summer hire participants who worked at the post office at USAG Benelux – Brunssum, “such as inventory, scanning in packages, sorting mail and customer service.” 

Saldaña and his fellow summer hire participants agreed they gained a lot from their job.

“I learned a lot about the behind the scenes of what it takes to run a post office effectively,” said 11th grader Gabriela Moreno, who also worked post office at USAG Benelux – Brunssum. “I would absolutely do the [summer hire] program again.”

In addition to benefiting the students, the program gave participating organizations a welcome boost of manpower during the busy permanent change of station and summer break season.

“Summer hires are great at helping us complete those projects and tasks that we are always putting off because we don’t have enough staff or time or because they take us away from the desk for too long,” said Lisa Steinacker, the library director for SHAPE and Chièvres Air Base. 

Gabriela Moreno (left), Alexander Moreno (center), and Ricky Saldaña (right) participate in the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux Summer Hire program swearing-in ceremony at USAG Benelux – Brunssum, the Netherlands, June 21, 2022. During the six-week program, participants worked at a variety of locations across Chièvres Air Base, SHAPE, USAG Benelux-Brussels and USAG Benelux – Brunssum. (U.S. Army photo by Charéll de Koster, USAG Benelux Public Affairs)

She said her two summer hire participants helped complete jobs all around the libraries, including preparing for the summer reading programs, building furniture, and compiling resources for the SHAPE library “Makerspace” and STEM area.

“They were perfect for completing ‘wish list’ items and necessary deep cleaning!” she said. “They helped with so many different tasks!”

Joel Lee, the postmaster for SHAPE and Chièvres Air Base, also appreciated the support his three summer hire participants provided.

“The assistance of the summer hires made a great difference in both lifting the burden on our full-time postal workers and the expediency with which we were able to serve our customers,” Lee said. “It [working with the participants] was a pleasure as we were provided some outstanding participants who made it their commitment to give us their all.”