Gov. Josh Stein speaks at FTCC on Aug. 6, 2025, as FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells looks on. [Photo by Brad Losh]
Fayetteville Technical Community College provided the backdrop for North Carolina Governor Josh Stein on Wednesday, as the governor signed a proclamation to make the state part of the Do Your Part initiative in support of military families.
Do Your Part is a joint initiative between Blue Star Families — an organization supporting families of military service members — and the National Governors Association.
In an effort to recognize that community support for military families is crucial to military recruiting and readiness, the initiative helps states identify, prioritize, and implement the most effective policies and programs to support military families.
“When someone makes that courageous decision to serve our country, their life changes and their family’s life changes,” Stein said. “Do Your Part is an initiative to encourage states to think holistically about how we can support not only the service members that are in our state but their families as well. North Carolina is committed to being a top state for military and military family members.”
U.S Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Gwendolyn Bingham, chair of the Blue Star Families Board of Directors, speaks before Gov. Josh Stein signs a proclamation adding North Carolina to the Do Your Part initiative in support of military families. [Photo by Brad Losh]
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Gwendolyn Bingham, who chairs the Blue Star Families Board of Directors, and Dr. Jessica Strong, who heads the Applied Research team at the organization also spoke at Wednesday’s event.
FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells opened Wednesday’s event, drawing focus to the college’s longstanding relationship with Fort Bragg and the surrounding military community, including a number of programs and resources designed to ensure a smooth transition from military life to the civilian workforce.
“We’re a proud partner of Fort Bragg and make it a high priority strategy that we serve our military and our military families to the best of our ability,” Sorrells said.
FTCC has maintained a commitment to fostering education and workforce initiatives that provide career-focused pathways leading to success for active-duty military service members, veterans, and their families. Military and military dependent students make up approximately one third of FTCC’s total enrollment.
Sorrells highlighted a handful of such initiatives, including FTCC’s All American Veterans Center, which assists new students in maximizing their VA education benefits, the college’s Transition Tech program, which provides industry-focused and connected training in a number of career pathways for military members transitioning to civilian careers, and FTCC’s presence at the Bragg Training and Education Center on Fort Bragg to assist active duty soldiers with attending college.
FTCC’s commitment to serving the military community is consistently recognized at the national level, with the College regularly receiving Top 10 Military Friendly School and Military Spouse Friendly School designations.
Gov. Josh Stein signed at a proclamation adding North Carolina to the Do Your Part initiative, which supports military families, at FTCC on Aug. 6, 2025. [Photo by Brad Losh]
After signing the proclamation, Stein praised FTCC’s military-focused initiatives, calling the efforts “critical” to driving the state’s economy.
“What we’ve seen here is that Fayetteville Tech is a perfect example of a governmental agency that has their hand outreached to the military to say, ‘What can we do to help you succeed in North Carolina?,’” Stein said. “The training programs they have to ensure that family members have skills to turn into good-paying jobs. The work with current service members who are going to leave the service and come back into civilian life to make sure they have skills that are transferable to employment.
“Fayetteville Tech is a crown jewel in the North Carolina Community College System.”
