PORT EVERGLADES, FLA. (WSVN) - As Fleet Week entered its opening days, STEM students in Fort Lauderdale sailed into new territory on Monday as they toured the USS Cole and learned about the workload of a sailor.
“We’ve got electricians, we got people that can weld, we got people who work on sophisticated equipment, fiber-optics,” said Commander James Welsch.
The tour may encourage the students to work on a ship in the future.
“They’re interacting with those sailors, about what they do every day and how important science and technology education is really, really important for us,” Welsch said.
It’s a unique opportunity in more ways than one.
“This entire area we’re sitting in is actually part of American history. All of this was actually destroyed,” said Senior Chief Marcelo Baquero-Álvarez.
The ship, which was commissioned in Port Everglades in the late ’90s, survived a terrorist attack in Yemen on Oct. 12, 2000.
Although 17 sailors were lost in that attack, several areas of the ship honor them.
The warship was rebuilt and its legacy is far-reaching.
“USS Cole set the benchmark for the defense of America,” Baquero-Álvarez said. “A lot of the policies and ways we do business are directly affected by experiences here on this ship.
Around 800 sailors are in Fort Lauderdale for Fleet Week.
They will also head out to the community for service work, in particular helping people affected by historic rains that have affected parts of Broward County.
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