About 20 young people spent three days at the No. 8 air base in Maceda, Ovar, ending today an initiative that will also take place in the Navy and the Army.
Under the “Defense + Youth” program, twenty young people spent three days at Air Base No. 8 / Maneuvering Airfield No. 1, in Maceda, Ovar, in the district of Aveiro.
“This first experience in the Air Force aims at a fundamental objective, to bring people, Portuguese citizens closer to the Armed Forces, young people in particular”, stressed the Minister of Defense, who was present at the closing ceremony of the initiative.
Speaking to journalists, Helena Carreiras explained that the objective of that program is “to bring young people to military units to have a slightly longer experience than usual about what military life is, to know the activities of the military, to understand how they organize them, what they do, what their results are, to experience in the first person so that they can have a notion, a deeper knowledge of the Portuguese Armed Forces “.
He said that “young people express, on the day of National Defense, the desire to have a longer experience with the Armed Forces”.
“We have brought together the knowledge and expectations of the Portuguese to create this program, which is a pilot program and which will develop next year in all branches of the Armed Forces,” he said.
The “Defense + Youth” is aimed at young people between 12 and 15 years old, allowing them the possibility to stay overnight in military units and covers different activities depending on the branch of the Armed Forces.
The Air Force was the first to start the program with the three-day initiative “Fly with the Air Force – Air Base No. 8/Maneuvering Airfield No. 1 in Maceda”.
This is followed by the Army’s initiative, “Militar por três dias” (Military for three days), which will take place at the School of Weapons between July 18 and 20, with the participation of 10 young people.
The last part of that pilot project will be in the Navy, with the “Sailor for 5 days” initiative, which will take place at the Lisbon Naval Base and will last five days (from July 24 to 28), involving up to 15 participants.
