Photo By Staff Sgt. Destinee Sweeney | The 20th Force Support Squadron Spratt Education Center can help aspiring students to...... read more read more
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Participating in passionate research projects, engaging with the newest field information available and eventually crossing a stage to accept a specialized diploma — for many around the world, including military members, college is an aspiration they hope someday to achieve.
Spratt Education Center professionals assigned to the 20th Force Support Squadron want to help make this dream a reality for Airmen by providing counseling to ensure Team Shaw members have the resources they need for success.
“We try to counsel the service member to find out, if they had to put down that uniform today and walk into another career tomorrow, what exactly would they want to do?” asked Latoshia Gardner, 20th FSS education services specialist. “We have that as a starting point — this is what you want to do, but how are you going to get there?”
Counselors are available Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., to help guide Airmen through the process of understanding and using their benefits to attend a higher education program and help them achieve their professional goals. Aspiring students can also take personality inventories to match them with potential career avenues if they do not know where to start.
“We cannot tell an Airman what school to go to or what degree to pursue but we can give them tools to help figure it out,” Katherine Haworth, 20th FSS education and training section chief.
Active-duty military members receive $4,500 a year in tuition assistance to pursue an associate’s, a bachelor’s and a master’s degree as well as $4,500 in financial aid through the Credentialing Opportunities On-Line program to gain certificates and licenses related to their career field.
The education center also provides College Level Examination Program and DSST tests to help individuals knock out their general education requirements for a degree.
“After an Airman retires, they’re going to have a great resume loaded up with years of experience, but if you walk into a civilian employer and say, ‘I also have a college degree to back up my experience,’ it’s going to open more doors, get higher pay and it’s just more clout in the civilian sector,” said Haworth.
Through various avenues such as the Community College of the Air Force, tuition assistance, COOL, college standardization tests and more, service members can gain knowledge, skills and certifications to help them in their military careers as well as in civilian life.
Carmen Alexander, 20th FSS education services specialist, said many service members are young enough to want to pursue another career after their military service in an unrelated field and can gain degrees to help them become more marketable in their civilian life.
“Even if you’re unsure what you want to do or where to start, come out and see us,” said Gardner. “We’re here to assess you, to counsel you and to make sure that you are successful not only in your military career, but once you get out as well.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2018 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 271511 |
| Location: | SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Spratt Education Center professionals school military members, by SSgt Destinee Sweeney, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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