More Important: Multiple Deployments or College Degree?

Why does it have to be one or the other. I have multiple deployments and my Masters degree. Do I think one is more important then the other? Not really. They have both expanded my view not only as a Soldier but as a person.

MSG,
It is messed up that it took them most of the way through the wars to finally start counting deployments. When the wars end and the OPTEMPO goes back to pre 2000 times than the college education will go back to being a higher priority.

I think the truth has always been who is willing to put in the extra effort for both officers and enlisted. Are you willing to do the suck of drill, AIT instructor or recruiter. As well boards tend to notice those people who take the time to professionally develop themselves.

MSG Quick,

Great question!!!

My response is that while there may be plusses and minuses of deployments vs college with respect to promotion, there is no question that a college degree is good contingency planning for transition to civilian life in an era of major force restructuring and downsizing.

The real question is when and where best to pursue the college degree, whether on active duty or after transition to the civilian sector where you have the GI bill and other programs to support a wider variety of choices.

Implicit within this discussion is the question of why you are pursuing a college degree. If it is for the sake of a few promotion points perhaps it is the wrong time to pursue the degree. If it is for the purpose of trying to learn what is important to you as an individual, acquire knowledge / skills / abilities that will serve you well within and beyond the military, and/or to engage in new experiences that will help you feel more, grow, and develop as an individual then college may be best investment ever.

A serious problem may be too many servicemembers who put off college eduction may never return to school for economic and other reasons.

In the end, you place your bets and take your chances. Just work very hard to be your very best at any time and do your best to love and enjoy the experience.

Life is too short to waste it on engagements you do not value highly.

Warmest Regards, Sandy

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MSG, I would say a balance of both would be heavily sought after for retention and promotion during the downsizing. I have one deployment and a bachelors degree which allows me to talk to Soldiers about combat and also about civilian education. I would definitely like to have more deployment experience but unfortunately that won't happen but the balance will help me be a better leader, coach, and mentor.

Thinking long term, the degree is more important. Whether it's retirement or ETS, we all have to get out eventually. Odds are, your new boss won't care how many deployments you have, but he WILL care about your education, certification and qualifications...

I think the answer to this question varies by MOS.  In my MOS, I think deployments are more important than college, and the more the better.  We cannot replicate interrogations or other functions of our job effectively in a garrison environment.  I say this with two degrees and five deployments under my belt, operational experience was far more important.

People speak of assignments & not being able to deploy but I've known people who were stuck in the opposite position.  Multiple deployments to the point where they could not take college courses.  When it came time for promotion points, they were at a disadvantage.  To me that is not fair to the soldier who has the experience but has been hindered by no fault of their own from doing education.  Given a person's job & region, they may not have the luxury of doing education downrange.  I think the military doesn't recognize that perspective of military life for the most part.  The system has flaws in it but I'm not sure how to alleviate them.

I think that sometimes a college degree is over rated in the military. I have several experiences where two soldiers are far apart on certain MOS critical skills but the one with less MOS experience will get promoted over the other because of more college credit. That to me is a broken system and the Army National Guard needs to address it ASAP. Now as CSM Michael Poll described that an educated soldier is a more effective soldier, I have to agree. A person who takes the time to better him/herself by working toward a degree will undoubtedly serve his/her command better than someone just trying to do his time and get out. I would have to say that both avenues of experience are valuable, it just depends on a fine balance of the two to make the most good in my opinion. 

From the HRC page on what will be looked at for retention boards Deployment time doesn't help and degrees do a little.

The question being which is a more valuable asset to senior leadership, multiple deployments or a college degree. I would lean toward the experience having only those two choices available as I believe that neither are crucial to quality leadership.  A competent leader can go into an unknown situation having only knowledge of his soldiers and be successful by putting people in the best positions to suit their strengths.  The success of a leader doesn't come down to one or two attributes, but the ability to properly train, educate, and grow the people they command.