Servicemembers teaching others while deployed

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Brok McCarthy
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) --  Education is something the military encourages servicemembers to seek whenever they can, as long as it doesn't interfere with the mission.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get university teachers to deployed areas, but that's where certain deployed personnel, all of whom have at least one masters' degree, have stepped up to fill in the void.

"Military personnel who are college instructors fulfill an important gap in helping students achieve educational goals that may not be met when civilian instructors are not available," said Tech. Sgt. David Sims, who is scheduled to teach Introduction to Computer Based Systems for University of Maryland University College in the upcoming semester.

"Every military member who wishes to earn a college degree deserves the opportunity to do so, and it would be great if all military members with advanced degrees would step up to the challenge of being college instructors to help our fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines achieve their goals," said the technical sergeant from Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas.

Army Maj. Jason Vranes, the 2-43 Air Defense Artillery Battalion executive officer, taught three different classes in the 15 months he has been deployed here. He said he remembers what it was like trying to finish a degree while being deployed.

"I was in the same spot the students were in many years ago," said the Knoxville, Tenn., native who deployed from Fort Bliss, Texas. I'm a little bit older and a little bit wiser. I want to see my fellow servicemembers get better."

Because of the wide variety of degrees held by people in deployed locations, there can be diversity of classes than what can be found on a typical base in the states. For instance, Capt. Jeffrey Cunningham, the 379th Expeditionary Operation Support Squadron Weather Flight commander, is currently scheduled to teach a meteorology course during the upcoming semester.

"I enjoy meteorology, and teaching a college course here will help others achieve their educational goals," said Captain Cunningham, who is deployed from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. "With today's deployment tempo, taking a class while deployed is almost necessary for some Airmen to complete their degrees. And those with a spouse or children at home actually find more time to complete personal goals while deployed."

Servicemembers spending down time teaching puts them in a unique position to know what their students go through on a daily basis.

"There are definitely advantages to having a military member for an instructor," said Sergeant Sims. "We can discuss ways to apply our knowledge to our jobs. The military member's teaching is more than theoretical ... it is applied every day in service of our country."

Because of the amount of work everyone is expected to do at their job, both students and instructors have to learn to balance the responsibilities they hold at work with the responsibilities they have at school. Major Vranes said he was able to accomplish this with good time-management skills.

"The amount of time that I would prep for my studies when I was a student was less than what I had to do to get ready to teach," he said. "I had to have really good time-management skills in order to sit down and plan everything out.

"I dedicated my day away from work to prepare myself for that week's class, teach it, and then prepare for the following weeks class as well," he said. "Then throughout the rest of the week, I found myself having to step back and catch up or try to get ahead."

One of the challenges for students to get used to is the idea of an NCO or officer teaching them a civilian college course.

"When I walked into the room, I tried to set the tone that, yes I'm a Major in the United States Army, however in the classroom, I'm an instructor who's here to try to help make you better," Major Vranes said. "I tried to put them at ease, and add a bit of humor and make the students feel comfortable so it was more of a learning environment. After the first lesson or two there wasn't any friction between the students and me."

"The bottom line is there are numerous educational opportunities available here and online," said Sergeant Sims. "Some schools start new classes every month and money is available through programs like tuition assistance and the [Montgomery] G.I. Bill. It is never too late to start your education."

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