military bound

Alright here is a little information about myself

* 27 yrs old,
* 93 college credit hours accumulated at the University of Houston and Houston Community College
* Airforce bound May 23, 2006
* looking for a way to get my first college degree as quickly as possible.

Main reason for joining the Airforce is because its something I've always wanted to do, but I was always too scared to do it. If I don't join before I turn 28, thats the end of the line for me.

Now I'm going in as an enlistee (E-3), but does anyone know what degree plan I should look into to acquire a college degree ASAP? I'd like to get it done so I can apply to become an Officer.

I'm also in the dark on how the military and education thing work. Once I finish tech school I was going to talk to the educational advisors there and have the Airforce pay for the remainder of my education.

Any suggestions?

 

If you are proficient at "testing out" procedures (e.g., CLEP, DANTES, ECE, TECEP), you might try one of the Big Three: Charter Oak State College www.cosc.edu , Excelsior College www.excelsior.edu , or Thomas Edison State College www.tesc.edu . Also, the University of Houston www.uh.edu/distance does offer some distance learning, such as bachelor's programs in computer drafting & design, Earth science, history, hotel & restaurant management, psychology, and technology, leadership & supervision. What is your major, by the way? That might help us give you better advice.

As for the military paying for your education, when I went to a military recruiting office at age 26 in 1988, the situation then was that one could rack up a bunch of student loan debt beforehand and the military would pay off 15% of the balance for each year you serve, or you could use the TAP (Tuition Assistance Program) while in the military which paid 75% of your tuition bill, or you could use the GI Bill after you left. Note that, at that time, it was a pick one but not all three sort of deal. Of course, things may very well be different eighteen years later, so check with your education officer.

By the way, in case you're wondering, the military told me that a letter to Defense Secretary Cap Weinberger could have gotten me into the military notwithstanding my manic-depression but that any history of epilepsy (even if it had been just one siezure ... and I had a 24-year history of epilepsy) was such an absolute disqualifier that not even a letter from the Defense Secretary could get me in. Hope you don't consider me too big a wimp.

 

You must be my replacement!

Air Force Separation: 23 May 2006

Anyway, the officer corps is a little bit picky on degrees right now. Pretty much unless you have a technical, medical, or law degree it's going to be hard to get in.

Here is a list of technical degrees they are looking for:
Technical–Tier 1
Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Environmental Engineering

Technical–Tier 2
Aeronautical Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Astronautical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Meteorology/Atmospheric Sciences

Technical–Tier 3
Architectural Engineering
Architecture
Chemistry
Computer Science
Mathematics
Operations Research
Physics

These fields are BY FAR the best way to get a commission in the Air Force and since they just drew down the officer corps, it's going to be very competitive to get in. Make sure all your performance reports are perfect, volunteer for everything, and if you want to be an officer you will need to develop the art of Ass-Kissing...and from what I have seen it IS a definite art!

I'm not sure what specialty you are enlisting in, but be careful. There are quite a few jobs in the Air Force that will afford you NO time to go to school. Also, you will not be able to take ANY classes until you have finished your Career Development Course (CDC's) and On The Job Training (OJT), this could take up to a year or more depending on your field, so keep that in mind.

But, take full advantage of it, the AF is still paying 100% tuition, up to $4500 a year. And if you sign up for the G.I Bill, you can go above that cap as well.

Well, I hope this helped some. There are a few programs in place to help you get on the track to being an officer, your education center can definitely help you out once you arrive at your duty station.

My recommendation would be to put in for a few locations near colleges that you would like to attend that have the program you are looking for. Research it all beforehand, because once you are in you may not have the free time to conduct the research.

Shawn

 

Keep in mind that you are likely going to get college credit for basic training and a-school...bringing you even closer to graduation.

May be prudent to talk to an advisor from the big 3 even prior to enrollment.

Greg

 

Congratulations on your choice to enlist. It was a decision I made before I graduated high school. I made friends for life and experienced things in five years that most people will never experience in a lifetime.

You should be aware that should you decide to wait a little longer, the enlistment cut-off age for non-prior service Air Force Reserve is 34.

If I had remained in the miiltary, I would have retired nearly 4 years ago and I'd likely have my degree at this point. But after tours of duty in Beirut, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and in the Persian Gulf in the 80's during the Iran/Iraq War, I was ready to leave. It just goes to show you, the country doesn't necessarily have to be at war for the world to be a dangerous place in which to serve in the military.

 

Look at one and two year ROTC scholarships. Also look at OCS programs. There are also Warrant Officer Flight programs in the Army. Otherwise, go enlisted and pursue your degree, then either get out or go OCS. My two cents.

William

 

You might want to check out...

Take a look at www.123collegedegree.com ;

The site creator, Joshua Graham, is a frequent poster here, and finished his BA in 6 months while full time in the Navy. Granted, the Navy has better uniforms than the Air Force, but I don't think that contributed to his fast degree.

You also should check out Lawrie Millers site, www.BAin4weeks.com ; he has a great plan on completing a degree asap! If you already have 93 units, you might be able to finish your degree before, or soon after you enroll. A lot will depend if your units fit into a degree plan, or longer if they are miscellaneous units.

Best of luck to you in the Air Force! Congrats on your decision to serve! If you play your cards right, you should be able to serve, get your Bachelors, Masters and maybe even a PhD.

 

I will retire just shy of my 40th B-Day, and I could not imagine joining at 40 y/o. Regardless of the job, it is a physically demanding job and of course you have to deal with deployments, time away from family, etc.

William

 

Wow!! Thanks for all the replies!!

I don't know the technical language of the airforce just yet, but i'm going in as a:

1N5X1 - ELECTRONIC SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE EXPLOITATION

My hopes were to just study for the Chemistry/Mathmatics GRE and take the test. I read on www.bain4weeks.com that I could get 30 credit hours if I passed that one test. It should get me over the hump and I can finally get that chemistry degree.

Is Tier 3 better than teir 1?

My current major is biology, but it was geared more to acquiring a pharmacy degree. Pharmacy sucks, and I excel in sales. I actually love it, but unfortunately I don't see it as any good except for a public relations type job in the military.

 

Pharmacy would get you in for the medical jobs. The tech tiers are 1 being the most sought after to 3 which are still sought but 1 carries more weight.

Sigintel eh, should be pretty good. You'll get a top notch clearance though. If you decide to leave after 4 years, an intel analyst with a degree and a clearance will make a ton of money on the outside...keep that in mind.

 

You can get UP TO 30 credit hours for that one test. Excelsior may grant 30 credit hours for a score above the 80th percentile. As your test score drops, so does the credit hours you receive.

Teir 1 is considered the elite, followed by teir 2, 3, 4...BUT, consider who assigns teirs...it's not a very scientific process, just opinion.

 

KN,

I served in a very similar specialty in the Army. Signals intelligence specialties will confer you with a Top Secret clearance and a Special Background Investigation (TS/SBI).

You should be aware that this clearance commands a premium salary in the civilian sector; a TS/SBI and a technical degree is a ticket to an >$80k job, much more in some places.

Keep your options open. And by all means, protect your clearance by keeping your nose clean.

 

Would there be a particular academic path I should take to help advance my new career? I don't think a biology degree would be any good.

 

Community College of the Air Force

Going into the Air Force will help you get your degree faster. You will have access to the Community College of the Air Force. They take your credits you will have earned from your SMART transcript and any other college credits you may have earned and put those into an associate's degree program for you.

I am a command career counselor in the Navy and I know coming out of basic will give between 2 to 3 classes to start with. Check out CCAF. I wish we had a similar component (CCAF) in the Navy!

 

Another strategy that I just thought of for completing your degree is this: with state colleges and universities, it is usually much easier to get your credits to transfer more smoothly if you transfer to another state school within the same state. Also, if you have in-state tuition in Texas, that too may keep it less expensive for you, assuming the Texas state schools will still honor your in-state residency even after you are posted to your duty station who knows where.

The University of Houston www.uh.edu/uhdistance offers distance learning bachelor's degrees in computer drafting & design, Earth science, English, history, hotel & restaurant management, psychology, and technology, leadership & supervision.

The University of Texas System www.telecampus.utsystem.edu offers a bachelor's in criminology online.

Texas Tech University www.ttu.edu offers a Bachelor of General Studies via distance learning.

Sam Houston State University www.shsu.edu unfortunately does not have a listing in my old 2003 Bears' Guide (and my 2006 Bears' Guide has not yet arrived at the Toledo Barnes & Noble). Don't know if they have any undergraduate distance learning, but they do offer a DL MA in Military History to lust after.

 

BACHELOR'S DEGREES IN BIOLOGY VIA DISTANCE LEARNING

Acadia University http://conted.acadiau.ca/distance/index.html (BG15, 153)
Central Queensland University www.dtls.cqu.edu.au (BG15, 103)
Charter Oak State College www.cosc.edu (BG15, 104)
Mary Baldwin College www.mbc.edu/adp (BG15, 162)
University of New England www.une.edu.au (BG15, 141)
Open University (Israel) www.openu.ac.il (BG15, 127)
Queens University www.queensu.ca (BG15, 128)
University of Saskatchewan www.usask.ca (BG15, 144)
Thomas Edison State College www.tesc.edu (BG15, 133)
Thompson Rivers University, fka Open University and Open College www.ola.bc.ca (BG15, 126)

BACHELOR'S DEGREES IN CHEMISTRY VIA DISTANCE LEARNING

Acadia University http://conted.acadiau.ca/distance/index.html (BG15, 153)
Central Queensland University www.dtls.cqu.edu.au (BG15, 103)
Charter Oak State College www.cosc.edu (BG15, 104)
Mary Baldwin College www.mbc.edu/adp (BG15, 162)
Murdoch University www.murdoch.edu.au (BG15, 123)
Queens University www.queensu.ca (BG15, 128)
University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za (BG15, 144)
Thomas Edison State College www.tesc.edu (BG15, 133)

There are many PharmD degrees available via distance learning; however, from previous pharmacy threads on this site, it seems that the only one which is the first professional degree in pharmacy, however, is that of Creighton University www.creighton.edu .

 

Wow! Thirty credits for passing a GRE Subject Test? Most of the schools that give credit for GRE Subject Tests require an 80th percentile to get credit, so you might go to either www.amazon.com or www.bookfinder.com to search for a guide to the GRE Subject Test in Chemistry and the GRE Subject Test in Mathematics.

Pharmacy sucks? Go to www.salary.com to see how much money pharmacists make.

 

You indicated that you excel in and love sales.

A TS/SBI is required in the fields of "psychological operations" or "information operations", or IO ( depending on your point of view, these could be viewed as euphemisms for "marketing" or even "propaganda").

The Army has units dedicated to Psyops and IO - I presume the Marines do, too. I don't know about the Air Force.

I will say that it is possible to transfer from one service to another, and these days it's quite easy to get into the Army. OTOH, I know of an Army infantry captain who just transferred to the Coast Guard following his tour commanding a company in Iraq.

Since you've committed yourself to joining the AF, I would advise you to:

-devote yourself to being the best airman you can be
-get that TS/SBI clearance
-earn a degree in a specialty that REALLY interests you
-and find a branch of service that will accept all your qualifications and commission you in the specialty you really want.

 

What does being "commissioned in the specialty I really want" mean?