WAHPETON, N.D. — North Dakota State College of Science has announced it is bringing back one of its most successful career paths.
The Aviation Maintenance Technology program is returning, this time to the Fargo campus.
Back in the day, the school in Wahpeton was one of a few in the country to offer it, but the program was discontinued in the late 50s.
But now it has new life, and it comes at a critical time in the aviation industry.
Terry Marohl of NDSCS found a piece of that past Thursday at the school in Wahpeton: an old wing rib from a 1935 plane.
"And this particular rib is from the aircraft called the Wildcat, which ironically is the mascot for NDSCS," Marohl said, holding the signed piece of wood from the late 1920s.
It was in 1928 that the science school started its aviation maintenance tech program. "There were schools from all over that came to look and see what the college was doing so they could replicate it," Marohl said.
Art Sampson, who was a friend of Carl Ben Eielson, started the program. The school had its own runway and taught students everything about wings, engines and props.
"It was one of the first five schools in the country and the only one in North Dakota," Marohl said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Even during World War II, the campus shut down, but the aviation program became center stage as 3,500 sailors with the Navy trained in Wahpeton.
"We played a role, we played an important role," Marohl said.
The aviation maintenance tech program stopped in the early 50s. But for the last eight years, the Fargo Jet Center and NDSCS have dreamed of starting it up again. Next fall, the first class of 20 will start. And just in time for the industry.
"So, today, if we look at our national workforce of aviation maintenance, a third of that workforce is over 62 years old and so that workforce is outpacing the new incoming workforce," Darren Hall of the Fargo Jet Center said.
Graduates of the two-year program can work in many areas of aviation. Hall said the workforce issue is one reason Fargo puts on the big AirSho and also does tours at the Jet Center -- all to get young people interested in aviation.
For more information about the program or enrollment, contact Marohl at (701) 671-2308 or email at Terry.Marohl@ndscs.edu .
The Trust Project
