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This January, Samantha Gentry 鈥�25, a computer science and cybersecurity double-major from Clifton, Va., got under the hood鈥攐r rather, the motherboard鈥攁t Tech for Troops, a Richmond-based nonprofit that supports under-resourced veterans.

Tech for Troops offers several services that support the mission of empowering veterans with sustainable lifelong digital skills. The organization provides veterans training in both computer literacy skills and IT workforce preparation, in addition to supplying eligible vets with refurbished laptops.

Gentry鈥檚 wide-ranging internship gave her hands-on experience with the services that Tech for Troops uses to make its education programs possible: refurbishing old hardware, recycling hardware ethically, and data destruction.

It also helped her expand her experience to different parts of the field, including some that could help with certifications like CompTIA A+, in addition to learning different programming languages.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of understanding hardware, understanding how components of laptops and phones and electronic devices all work together,鈥� Gentry, whose goal is to become a software engineer after graduation, explained. 鈥淚 thought it would be a good opportunity to understand a little bit more, because I had never really looked at a motherboard.鈥�

Gentry also worked on a project tracking the carbon offset from Tech for Troops鈥� efforts, calculating how much carbon is being saved from going back into the atmosphere by recycling hardware ethically instead of going into landfills, and how much carbon is saved by recycling laptops to give to veterans instead of purchasing new ones.

鈥淥ne of the things I love about Tech for Troops is that they鈥檙e kind of unusual for IT or computer science-type internships,鈥� said RMC computer science professor Robin Givens, who was Gentry鈥檚 faculty supervisor for the internship. 鈥淥ur students go there and they learn how to take apart a computer and recycle and reuse the parts. They learn how to set up machines that are used, so that there are no security issues with the data. They learn how to make it operational for another person.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not really something that they鈥檙e going to get at any other place,鈥� Givens continued. 鈥淏ut then they also have opportunities for web and app development, so it鈥檚 a really nice balance for the students.鈥�

Many of Tech for Troops鈥� full-time employees are veterans themselves, some of whom may have gotten a bad start after their time serving. The organization aims to help them restart their lives in an important field.

鈥淲orking with veterans, especially underprivileged veterans, is such an important community,鈥� Gentry said. 鈥淕iving them a shot to really expand their knowledge in these fields that they maybe missed out on during their time serving, advancing their professional skills, and creating a community that they can game with and cope with their mental health, are just really great programs.鈥�