Beale squadron welcomes Brown Bag University

  • Published
  • By Airman Robert Biermann
  • 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs
The Air Force provides opportunities and financial support for school, both personal and professional. Many bases also offer on-base programs so Airmen don’t have to commute to a local college.

For the first time at Beale AFB, a school is now coming right to a squadron.

“The concept of Brown Bag University came from the idea that maintainers have
always thought that going to college was out of their reach due to constant deployments and long duty days on the flightline,” said Brian Schick, the 9th Maintenance Squadron secretary and co-founder of the program. “Our concept is aimed at breaking that myth by bringing the educational services right to the flightline.”

Brown Bag University became reality thanks to the squadron’s commander, Lt. Col. Jeff Ames.

“I started teaching when I was 19 and have always been passionate about higher education because it opens up opportunities for people in life,” said Colonel Ames co-founder of the program. “When someone gains knowledge from higher education, no one can take that away. There is so much available for servicemembers who want to increase their education. Unfortunately, some can’t take the next step because they don’t have the time. We’re going to feed these Airmen with knowledge while they feed themselves during lunch.”

Once the idea of BBU was born, the next step was picking out a college that could meet needs of the Airmen and send a Spanish teacher out to the squadron. The Airmen were academically counseled to assess what they needed to do to complete their Community College of the Air Force degree.

“We began having discussions with Yuba College back in August 2005 with Dr. Edward Davis, the associate dean of Yuba College, and Ms. Susan Downing,” Mr. Schick said. “They agreed that BBU would be a worthwhile venture that would provide our maintenance warriors with a great opportunity to reach their educational dreams.’

“It was tough finding faculty to teach mid-day but we did it,” said Ms. Downing, a campus operations specialist for Yuba College. “We scheduled the classes for the squadron, registered the students, and helped show them what was needed for their CCAF.”

“When the feasibility of the program was agreed upon, we proceeded to conduct a squadron-wide survey to determine which classes most people were interested in,” Mr. Schick said. “We found that both math and Spanish were in high demand, so we provided sign-up sheets and most folks opted for the Spanish class.”

Future possibilities for BBU include Internet capabilities for deployed Airmen to continue their education and recording of the classes.

“It’s hard to make an impact within the short time I’m here,” Colonel Ames said. “I hope BBU continues to grow and impact these airmen long after I’m gone.”