Thank you to everyone who attended our December Event where we celebrated this year's Leadership and Mentoring Program Graduates! Attendees had the chance to meet this year's graduates and also heard from the 2021 LMP Class Speaker and SAME National Vice President Sharon Krock. Congratulations again to the Class of 2021 on a successful year. We look forward to your continued involvement with SAME!

As we close out 2021's Leadership and Mentoring Program (LMP) we invite those who are eligible to apply for the Class of 2022. The program is a unique opportunity for Young Members, Junior Officers, and NCOs to be mentored by SAME Fellows and senior leaders from the government and private sector while developing their leadership skills through focused educational sessions. The program includes monthly meetings with these industry leaders to discuss various topics regarding leadership and professional growth. A select group will be chosen to participate in the program and can earn up to 20 PDHs over the course of the year. Click below for more information and to apply! The deadline to apply is December 20th.

The NoVA Post has been asked to support a high school level 3-day STEM day camp to be held in late June near Quantico MCB. The camp focus is cyber security with the curriculum in development. This camp had the backing of SAME National to eventually become a 5-6 day overnight camp on base at Quantico in the future. Any post members interested in being mentors or who want to contribute to the start up of this camp are asked to contact our Engineering and Construction Camps Program Chair Jay Manik at manikjg@cdmsmith.com

The SAME NoVA Post will be taking applications for college scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year between January and April. The application form and other specific information will be available on our website beginning in January. Typically the NoVA Post awards multiple scholarships of around $2000 each to graduating high school seniors and to current college students pursuing architecture, engineering and engineering-related degrees. The website will provide details on qualifications and requirements for candidates.

Questions can be directed to the SAME NoVA Post scholarship Committee Chairperson, Bob Bevins, at 703-463-7714 and bevins_robert@yahoo.com.

We would like to express our deepest thanks to all the members of the SAME Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Central Virginia and Peninsula Posts for the unbelievable show of support and charity towards the Afghan refugees that were resettled on bases in Virginia. When John Crossen reached out to his friend John Latham, DHS Director of Refugee Resettlement Support to ask how he could help, he responded with an avalanche of items. John's small idea to reach out to local posts for assistance bloomed into an unbelievable response from dozens of members. What was thought to be a small delivery turned into seven van load deliveries to MCB Quantico, Fort Pickett and Fort Lee. In addition to the items delivered, members donated over $2000 in gift cards which will be presented to refugees in resettlement baskets upon reaching their new homes. SAME members truly exemplified the meaning of charity and good will towards those much less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you to all.

Submissions are now being accepted for session proposals for the 2022 Joint Engineering Training Conference (JETC)! The sessions are scheduled to be one hour each and can be a single presenter or a panel format. Presenters are encouraged to submit presentations on their unique research, case studies and projects. Panel representatives may not all be from the same company, and it is highly encouraged to have a mix of public and private sector reps on a panel.

For more information and to start the submission process, click here!