Military Seeks Tech Talent In New Ways

The U.S. military needs more tech brainpower. But many techies, entrepreneurs and academics aren't interested in military life. So the Pentagon is going where they are, trying new ways to harness their skills. Jay Price reports.

JAY PRICE, BYLINE: Nine Duke University students are on a field trip to a Green Beret compound on Fort Bragg.

CHANDLER: One final thing - I debated whether or not I wanted you guys to do this because it's pretty brutal.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Laughter).

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Ooh.

CHANDLER: A nose hose.

PRICE: For the day, their professor is a special operations medic named Chandler, his gear still dusty from a recent deployment in Africa. The class is getting a whirlwind immersion in the job of combat medic, including how to keep breathing passages open. Matt Hawkins, a 24-year-old graduate student in mechanical engineering, gamely volunteers to have a stiff-looking hose shoved into his nose - way into his nose.

CHANDLER: So bevel towards the septum - so you take the nostril.