Do you think or feel that civilian education equals promotion in the military?

Definitely not. In fact some traditional military pipeline people will try and squeeze out or marginalize those who didn't pursue the traditional military educational path. They want to promote their schools or educational process over all others and the military gets weaker.

Yes, anything that can strengthen our national security & awareness is important, relevant, can and should contribute to a promotion. Outreach is part of that.

I would say that it's a combination of these. I was always of the view that taking the tough job and leadership positions were key.

You must be well rounded so with that said, they all matter. Education helps you as you advance UP the ranks in a multitude of areas. How you preform helps you with superiors and juniors. Ticket punching is based on how the unit preforms so it helps you. The type of assignment helps as the more challenging or difficult the command, location or mission. Just being in and how long with basic military job education helps as it enhances your knowledge. So balance is key ti have a successful career. The cream will always come to the top. So if you are balanced you will go far and if you can influence, motivate, inspire and have the military personal of any rank. These people will wish to have you work for them, work under your command you will be a great person in command of a multitude of people and equipment.

For the AF you are unpromotable if you don't have at least your CCAF you won't make E-7.

For Senior Grade NCOs I believe it does. While I was attending USASMA, SGM's Academy in 1999-2000 it was stressed to finish my associates degree, which I had been working on for 16 years. I had 182 credit hours (72 required for Associates degree) but no degree because I had never been able to get two required courses to get my degree. I finished my 2 year degree immediately and eventually finished my bachelor's degree befor I graduated the course. We actually got two hours of duty time on Tues and Thursdays to go to college. If you didn't go to college you got put on one of many shit details, like desert police call or class room monitor at local schools. At that time counselors were saying the regulations for promotion to MSG and SGM were being rewritten to require an Associates for MSG and Bachelors for SGM. To the best of my knowledge it was never produced before I retired in 2005. Do any MSGs or SGMs currently on active duty, have an update on that for us on degrees required to pin on top three or four NCO ranks. I also know that studies have been done that seem to prove that college degrees do increase our wage earnings.

Equals? No. Factors in to? Of course.

As many senior officer and NCOs will tell you, your most important job is the one you currently have. Having said that, you can't JUST be good at ONE job and then retire in 20 years as an E-3 or O-2. Our military does not work that way. So.... you must have: education that is relevant to your career field, PME, plus a variety of other employment experiences. All of these elements prepare you for the future jobs to come. As you progress in any career, you need to know more "stuff" and develop more people/leadership/organizational skills. In addition, there is the reality that human physical performance peaks out in your late twenties, early thirties. A forty year old just does not have the same stamina as someone in their 20s. So; you have to develop more skills and education to make up the difference, work smarter, and effectively lead and mentor those with less experience.

Also, there are many positions where civilian education is the most important aspect to fill even an entry-level position in the military: like Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers etc. Its cost effective to just leverage the civilian schools to teach the initial skills, then augment it with special training to fill in the military-specific knowledge gaps.

During the initial part of my career as an officer in the Air Force you had to have a graduate degree to give you an edge for a promotion unless you were a pilot. So, I got my masters degree as quickly as possible.

After I retired I was told they would withhold graduate degrees from promotion folders because more and more were being deployed and couldn't go to school.

As far as my opinion: I think in any position, military or civilian performance should count far more than education.

I went to college on active duty back in the 70's a lot of us did.