Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Heaton | Tech. Sgt. Daniel Hicks, 127th Civil Engineer Squadron, Michigan Air National Guard,...... read more read more
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Recently-expanded state education benefits are helping several members of the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Civil Engineer Squadron to reach their personal and professional goals.
Senior Airman Richard Johnson, Senior Airman Mya Bellinger, Tech. Sgt. Daniel Hicks and Airman 1st Class Mitchell Grams are all using the Michigan National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program, or MINGSTAP, to work toward their education goals. All four spent part of June 2023 taking a break from their studies to participate in a two-week training deployment with the 127th CES, building housing for veterans in the Cherokee Nation, near Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Senior Airman Richard Johnson
Johnson recently graduated from Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan. There, he earned an associate degree in culinary arts – which is quite a difference from his job with the Michigan Air National Guard as a firefighter.
“I wanted to try something different and the Guard gave me that chance,” Johnson said. MINGSTAP paid for his tuition and book costs at Schoolcraft.
Johnson is a traditional member of the Guard, generally serving one weekend per month and two weeks of active duty per year. He joined the ANG in 2019. As a civilian, he is a sous chef, working for two restaurants and also serves as a part-time firefighter for the city of Novi, Michigan.
“All the training certificates I earned in the Guard transferred to the state of Michigan,” Johnson said.
He said his long-term plan is to continue to work as a firefighter and gain paramedic status. He hopes that job will allow him to save up to open his own restaurant some day.
“The two things are really working together,” he said.
Senior Airman Mya Bellinger
Bellinger is working toward a bachelor of social work degree at Spring Arbor University. She recently finished her associate degree – paid for by MINGSTAP.
In addition to being a student, she is an electrician in the Michigan Air National Guard, also as a traditional, drill-status Guardsman.
As a social worker in training, why serve in the Guard as an electrician?
“I like working with my hands,” she said after a day installing wiring in a new home construction. “And I got here and I liked the people. That’s what makes me stay."
Bellinger joined the ANG in 2017.
She said so far, her favorite experience in the Guard came in 2022, when she was part of a team supporting the landing of a Michigan ANG A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft on a highway in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The landing showcased the Air Force’s ability to launch fighter aircraft in austere locations.
“That was pretty awesome seeing how it all came together and watching that A-10 land on the highway, get refueled, reloaded and take off again,” she said.
Tech. Sgt. Daniel Hicks
After spending six years on active duty, Hicks joined the 127th Civil Engineer Squadron in 2018. He’s been a pavement and equipment operator his entire time in the military. Since he joined the ANG, Hicks has been going to school for occupational therapy, working toward becoming a certified hand therapist. Hicks completed his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University and is now in a graduate program at Eastern Michigan University. He used the post-9/11 GI Bill to pay for his studies at Michigan State. The MINGSTAP program is supporting his studies at Eastern.
While Hicks is studying to enter the medical field, he said he intends to remain a “dirt boy,” working with heavy equipment in the ANG.
“I still like this aspect of my life,” he said. “I like the deployments for training. I enjoy coming in on drill weekend and being a part of the team.”
Hicks expects to be finished with his education in June 2024.
Airman 1st Class Mitchell Grams
Grams joined the Michigan ANG in 2020. He completed a year of school at Oakland University prior to attending his Basic Military Training and technical school. Now, with those programs complete, he is serving as a power production specialist with the 127 CES and has resumed school at Oakland Community College, with MINGSTAP covering the cost of tuition and books.
Studying toward a degree in electrical engineering, Grams said he hopes that his hands-on experience working with electrical equipment and systems in the Guard helps give him a leg up with his education.
“The electrical theory I learned in my Air Force training – that doesn’t change,” he said.
The MINGSTAP benefit was created by the state in 2014. It provides up to $14,400 per year for Airmen and Soldiers in the Michigan National Guard to put toward paying for an associate or bachelor's degree. MINGSTAP provides up to $6,000 per year for master’s degree or for training or certificate programs. Earlier this year, the state modified the law to allow National Guard personnel to share their benefits with their spouse or dependent children. The benefit is available to all Michigan National Guard Soldiers and Airmen in good standing.
The Post-9/11 GI bill is a federal benefit that is awarded in increments to military personnel based on how much time they have spent on active duty, with members becoming available for 100% of the program’s funding after three years of combined active duty time. The Post-9/11 GI Bill covers all tuition costs, provides a stipend to help pay for books and provides a living allowance to students during their studies.
For more information about joining the Michigan Air National Guard call (586) 239-5511.
| Date Taken: | 06.21.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.22.2023 11:09 |
| Story ID: | 447689 |
| Location: | MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 170 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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