Any suggestions as to what can be done to help Soldiers get time to do college courses in person?
College
Education
If you want to be an officer, go Green to Gold even if you already have a two year degree. That really solves that problem.
If you want to get ahead on the enlisted side, consider this: DA PAM 600-25 recommends an Associates by the time you hit Staff Sergeant. Depending on your MOS, that is anywhere from 7 to 12 years. The full Bachelor's degree isn't a requirement until Master Sergeant. Get each requirement done one grade level prior to the requirement and you're golden.
The brick and mortar college option is only open for after duty hours unless your unit gives you a reenlistment incentive for physical classes. Honestly, do you think it's fair for Uncle Sam to pay us so nicely and then give us the option of taking off from work so we can enrich ourselves and increase promotion potential?
While online college sounds easy, it really isn't. Attending classes in person is little different from doing it on your own at home when it comes to the time invested and self-discipline.
It only gets harder the longer you wait. I was able to do classwork and study during duty hours as a Specialist if I got everything else done. It was easy with a six day schedule in Iraq as a Sergeant. However, being a Staff Sergeant and having a child in garrison made it an exercise in missing sleep and spending every free hour on the weekends staying up to date on three or four classes at a time so I could push through and finish my degree before things got out-of-hand.
When I joined the Military, there was not a true education system in place for the enlisted. eArmyU and GoArmyEd did not come about until 2001. Personally I am a huge advocate for our Soldiers continuing to educate themselves. All my NCOs must be enrolled in two correspondence course or one civilian education course.
That being said, not all Soldiers have the aptitude nor desire to strive for a AA or BA degree. Many Soldiers are better with their hands. We have to look at technical certification as a viable lifelong learning opportunity. That is why I make it a civilian education course, rather than a course towards a college degree.
I sit down with all my NCOs and any Soldier that wants a path and I help them figure out how to get there. I also let them know upfront that they are paid to be Infantrymen, not college students. It took me ten years to get my bachelors, and I am currently on my third year of working on my Masters. The military comes first. They have to be able to do online courses so it does not interfer with military duties.
I definitely push my Soldiers to explore their educational option. Many I have helped find good online programs from reputable schools so that they may continue to maintain their full-time job and support their family while furthering their education. It is strange that many Soldiers have not been educated on how they can use their benefits. At one of my previous units, we had a Soldier who did not realized that their TA and GI Bill could be used to gain aviation certifications. While these benefits are utilized as recruitment tools by recruiters, it seems that many of us leaders do not help reinforce these benefits. College is not for everyone, but that does not mean that their benefits should sit stagnant if they have other goals where self-development can help them.
I started down the path to earning a MBA. However, since I branched Engineer, I feel a need to become more technically education. Due to this, I am currently working on a MS in Construction Management. I also hope to be able to utilize the concurrent Masters program while at ECCC to earn a second MS in Geological Engineering. In this field, I feel that having a certain degree of technical competency and knowledge will go a long way torward some goals that I have set for myself as an Officer. Who knows....maybe I will get to teach at West Point someday.
As for preaching Education - yes any supervisor or anyone should preach the importance of training and education - but to give you time to do it - depends on the mission. I have worked with young Airmen around their schedules so they could go to classes during the day. Again depends on the mission and we are all adults - you have to plan your education.
One of the ways that I have see it worked best, is that your above average performers are given education incentives and the understanding that as long as they continue to perform in the top whatever you want to make it percentage they can get a certain ammount of time per week to attend class. Also with the understanding that the command gets to see their grades and if those aren't up to whatever you want to make the standards than they lose the additional time for classwork.
I know it sounds barbaric to hold people accountable, but it worked and worked well.
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