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SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — Midwestern State University marked a significant milestone on June 17, 2025, with a ceremonial kickoff for the construction of its new Military Education Center, a collaborative initiative between MSU Texas and Sheppard Air Force Base.
University, civic, and military leaders gathered on campus to mark the beginning of construction, which aims to create a centralized, one-stop resource center designed to streamline academic support for all MSU students, while also addressing the unique needs of the more than 2,000 military-affiliated students and families in the region.
Midwestern State University President Dr. Stacia Haynie said the project stemmed from early conversations with Sheppard AFB about how to better serve Airmen pursuing education.
"When we started this conversation with the base, they said, 'Airmen don’t have time to go to five different offices to get their question answered,'" Haynie said. "We thought, you know, no student has the time. So, the ability to have one space on campus where you go, and we will figure out whatever it is you need to help you succeed—that is our mission each and every day.”
82nd Training Wing commander Brig. Gen. Paul Filcek, called the center a "partnership made in heaven" and thanked the community and legislative supporters who made it possible.
"Sheppard Air Force Base is in the business of training and development," Filcek said. "We have an opportunity on Sheppard for every single military member and every single dependent to go to classes on installation through any number of colleges or universities, but we do not have an opportunity for that same crowd to come to a college campus and a place that’s theirs and shared with the university students at MSU. This center will enable the kind of cross-pollination that brings our communities together in ways that are meaningful and long-lasting."
Deputy Commander of the 80th Flying Training Wing Col. Mitchell Cok echoed the significance of MSU’s global impact through its support of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program.
"It’s an honor to represent ENJJPT and to talk about the impact that MSU has had on us and that program," Cok said. "As most of you know, it is a 14-nation partner program that happens to be hosted here in the U.S., so there’s a little bit of Europe here on our soil. MSU has had an impact on the world through impacting those students and instructors for a lot longer than you might think."
Cok noted that the first ENJJPT Operations Group Commander in the 1980s was Col Jan Gloystein. His son, Col Jan “Janski” Gloystein, now serves as the current Operations Group Commander. During his father’s assignment here, Col Gloystein lived locally with his family, attended high school in the area, and later graduated from Midwestern State University. These early ties helped shape his path as a Eurofighter pilot and NATO border operations leader before returning to assume his current role.
"And on top of that, now we’ve got spouses, we’ve got international military and their dependents who now have scholarships and in-state tuition," he said. "With this new facility, I believe this is only going to multiply the effort and multiply the impact that MSU has on the world."
The Military Education Center is expected to open in the Fall of 2026.
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2025 12:33 |
| Story ID: | 501490 |
| Location: | WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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