Learning key to mission success

  • Published
  • By Col. (Dr.) Mark Muth
  • 60th Dental Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Last week, I conducted an out-processing interview with one of my brightest young staff sergeants who is separating at the end of her first enlistment. Curious as to why she was separating at this point in time, I listened as she described her well formulated plans for the future. Having already completed 14 semester hours towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology through the tuition assistance program, she stated that she had been accepted into a nationally recognized university.

Her ultimate goal was to attend Dental School using the Air Force-sponsored Health Professions Scholarship Program and return to active duty as and Air Force officer and dentist.

Talk about Force Development. I quietly marveled at how far the Air Force has progressed over the last 25 years in its quest to develop enthusiastic Airmen.

Nelson Mandela, South African statesman stated, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." This view coincides nicely with the first of the three Air Force's core competencies, developing Airmen, and is therefore a vital tool to ensuring mission success.

Focused post-secondary education and developmental courses are crucial in formulating our next leaders. The Department of Defense and Air Force leaders are committed to ensuring service members have the best possible experience and exposure to continuing education.

Multiple avenues exist to continue education in the military. Online classes and distance learning are becoming familiar methods for deployed members to pursue educational goals. In fiscal year 2011, service members enrolled in over 860,000 undergraduate and graduate courses.

The Community College of the Air Force, the largest community college in the world and the only one in DoD offers 67 degree programs in five areas: aircraft and missile maintenance, electronics and telecommunications, allied health, logistics and resources and public and support services.

The Air Force's military tuition assistance program provides tuition and fees for college courses taken by active duty personnel during off-duty hours. This tuition assistance can be up to $4,500 per fiscal year and is one of the most frequent reasons provided for enlisting and re-enlisting in the Air Force.

The Air Force Virtual Education Center web page, located on the Air Force Portal under "Top Links", education, training and force development, is a robust source of educational programs available, including enlisted and officer professional military education.
Academic development is crucial in producing our next leaders. Coupled with professional military education, they provide the foundation for our future. I would argue that the Air Force provides the best opportunity in corporate America to complement a service member's capacity to serve, while accomplishing their educational goals.

Personal development should never stop. Whether it is through PME, on-the-job training or DoD sponsored learning, all knowledge acquired helps us do our jobs better. In return, this helps our fellow Airmen who work with us and ultimately the country we strive to proudly serve.

It is incumbent on leaders at every level to plan, encourage and guide all Airmen to embrace the incredible military education benefits that are available today. In the words of Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi, preeminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-ruled India, "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."