Navy LT considered resigning commission to attend Dartmouth?

There's more to it than the cover story because DoD doesn't spend a dime where it doesn't have to. Selecting "certain officers" for the program and not making this an open program to all ranks smells of horse hockey to me. I'll bet if you dig, these Os are connected high up in the food chain somewhere as things like this just don't happen out of thin air.

There are those who get lucky, and get these programs. Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey CA is another one. Military Medical and Legal programs allow things like this, as does the Chaplain Candidate Program...

I served under LT Ondik, even as a butter bar he did much better than senior officers. Great guy and awesome character, at least they are picking the right people to receive this privilege.

On this, I agree with a very well thought out answer by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS . Lt Hollis was extremely lucky, and apparently quite intelligent, and was able to go to school and fly for the Navy. He finished his obligation. He made it clear what he was interested in. They want to keep him and this program is underway, and he got lucky a second time. Great opportunity for him, and the Navy apparently thinks very highly of his capabilities, and will get at least 5 more years after he graduates. And at that point, one would think that he would likely stay, but who knows. In America, we get to chase our dreams.
The way I look at this, if he takes advantage of it and stays, perhaps he will become a stellar commander who truly gets the concept of looking out for his troops. He certainly got looked after, and was given opportunity.

If he met his service obligation honorably, more power to him

PO1 (Join to see)
If I'm not mistaken there are (or were) a few programs that allow enlisted Sailors to get a Master's degree on the Navy's dime as well.

I remember shortly before I retired there was a new program for people in an IT-type rating (IT and CTN mostly I think) that allowed them to get a Master's in Cyber Security.

PO1 Andrew Gardiner, any idea what I'm talking about?

PO1 (Join to see) first off, this should have been posted in humor. This is definitely bad comedy.

Second the only other thing I can say is (if you are flexible enough) try seeing it from the Navy's point of view as shown above.

Advanced degrees paid by your branch of service is common in the medical community. The SM remains on active duty and has a pay back period after graduation, nothing new here.

The real test is will the branches of service allow the SM to attend any grad school program or just those that closely relate to the SMs profession. MBAs was the norm in the medical profession then that changed with the new focus on your medical profession...thats where the rubber meets the road, the advanced knowledge benefited both the SM and the respective branch of service.

I agree we need to retain the best and the brightest, however there has to be a real benefit to who's paying the bills and that goes well beyond retaining someone on active duty for the sake of retention.

I felt the same way, PO1 (Join to see), at various times throughout my military career. Like you, I worked my way through my civilian education, taking two classes at once (four nights a week) for a long time. It was a real chore to earn the degrees I did. And then I'd look over and see commissioned officers attending a civilian university -- FULL TIME -- and still earning their military pay and benefits. And then I'd see many of those same officers jumping ship (leaving the military) at their earliest opportunity. Besides the difference in pay, that was the most unjust aspect of military service I ever witnessed. It just ain't right.

I can understand PO2 Beamer's frustration in having to pay for his education and piecemeal it as he can around his career. To then read an officer who was going to get out receive the opportunity to get the very degree PO Beamer is working so hard toward is a hard bite to digest.

I would only hope these officers are required to attend class in uniform to promote the Navy that is providing this opportunity for them and to remind them they are still Naval officers with all that entails.

While not the subject of this thread, it is an interesting sidebar the Navy pushes its enlisted personnel to pursue further education yet provides a very small amount of programs to achieve this goal and an even smaller window of opportunity leading to a commission when they complete a bachelor's degree.