DoD Sponsorship of FIRST

[SteveGPage]

Originally Posted by Martinez

... Places to start would be the Chesapeake Regional. The Navel Academy has been sponsoring a FIRST competition there for numourous years...

Unfortunately, that is no longer true this year. Last year Das Goat (Team 116 or 166, I believe) was no longer at the CR. They had been at the USNA as a team, and used their facilities, they were no longer listed as an active team. I haven't checked to see if they are active this year, though. This year, the CR is being held at the Baltimore convention center. I don't believe that it is a lack of wanting to be a part of FIRST by the USNA, but that security concerns have caused them to pull back. I hope to see the DoD re-engage in FIRST. Locally, 836 has the Pax River Naval Airstation, where research such as UAV is being done. Many of our students have gone on to work at Pax River in those programs. It would be nice to see them available as a sponsor as well.

Steve