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Military Education News And Info

Stay up-to-date with news and information about your military education. You can get the information you need to make informed decisions about your online and military correspondence programs. Learn what's going on with military education and how you can make a smooth military transition. Your civilian career awaits you!

Marine Corps Training More Officers

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Marine Corps has set a goal growing the force to 202,000 Marines, which has been going smoothly on the enlisted side, but it is more time consuming to produce Marine officers, and the Corps has been trying to keep pace.

It takes about one year before a Marine officer can finish all their schooling and be assigned to the fleet as a 2nd Lieutenant in charge of a Marine platoon. The Marine Corps puts its officers through intense training to ensure they are ready to lead Marines.

Ground zero for training Marine officers is The Basic School (TBS) at Quantico, VA. TBS normally graduates about 1,600 lieutenants each year; right now they are on target to graduate 2,000 officers, which has not lessened the quality of the training, but has put a lot of stress on the NCOs who train the men and women.

The Corps is expected to reach its new size by looking to take on 2,050 officer candidates in 2009 and 2,108 by 2010. Despite the increased numbers, the goal of TBS is still the same: teach these new Marine officers the basics of weapons, tactics and how to manage small units like platoons and companies.
There are four ways for men and women to become Marine officers: Officer Candidate Course, Platoon Leaders Class, enlisted to officer programs and finally through graduating from the Naval Academy or the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. A full 64% of Marine officers currently come through the first two options.

The path into the Marine Corps is more direct for enlisted Marines. After graduating from a 12-week basic training known as "boot camp" they can officially call themselves Marines. From there they go to their advanced school to study whatever it is they will do in the Corps: artillery, infantry, intelligence, etc.

Once an enlisted Marine gets settled, he can then further his civilian educational training by using Marine Tuition Assistance (TA), which he can use at any accredited vocational school, community college or university of his choice.

And since many Marines are deployed abroad or are on Naval ships all over the world, they can also using their TA benefit at an accredited online school, so that they can prepare for their civilian career from anywhere in the world. And the best thing about TA is that Marines pay nothing-out-of-pocket – the military pays the schools directly.

Some schools also offer scholarships for military spouses of active-duty Marines. Some scholarships allow a Marine spouse to enroll in a training program at no cost when the Marine uses TA to enroll at that particular school.

Online schools for military come in all shapes and sizes, so Marines should make sure that the school is nationally accredited. The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) is a government-approved accrediting body that many online schools look to.

Students should also look for live student support, so they can call up a school representative when they have questions about their course or program. Many online schools also work with service members on a consistent basis and can be very helpful with TA paperwork.

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Posted by Allied Blogger Admin @ 3:26 PM • 0 comments

Marines Need Tan Belts and Military Tuition Assistance

Monday, September 24, 2007

This summer Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway signed a Corps-wide message requiring all active-duty and Reserve Marines to have at least a tan belt in the martial arts by the end of the year. Although the Marine's Martial Arts Program isn't new - it began in 2000 - it's estimated that nearly 30,000 active-duty Marines are still without a tan belt.

Although some Marines will surely gripe about the requirement, its purpose is to underscore the warrior ethos that should be at the heart of every man and woman who has earned the eagle, globe and anchor.

The directive also serves as a reminder that Marines must go beyond what's required of them. The program has been around for seven years, yet thousands of Marines chose not to get certified. Perhaps they weren't combat arms Marines, or maybe they believe a Marine is solely a rifleman with no business learning karate moves – it's anyone's guess.

Go ask America's enemies who fought against Marines on Iwo Jima, the Chosin Reservoir, Hue City or most recently in Fallujah, how demoralizing it is to combat Marine riflemen - yet what if they now must even fear disarmed Marines who can fight with their hands? It's time for them to throw down their weapons and find a white flag.

And when Marines gets out of the Corps, the same adage surely applies to their military to civilian transition. Former Marines who attempt their transition from the military with only a high school diploma will find that their capacity to secure a well-paying career is severely limited.

Marines who took the initiative to get certified as either a tan belt, gray belt, green belt or beyond, have increased their fighting capacity as Marines. To ensure that they have just as many tools as possible when they separate from the service, Marines are also encouraged to take advantage of the US military tuition assistance program.

Marine tuition assistance pays up to 100% of a Marine's tuition and fees to an accredited military online school. That means the Corps pays for military distance learning courses up front - Marines pay nothing out of their pocket. US military tuition assistance programs are a real chance for leathernecks to train for a civilian career before they separate. Many schools offer military distance learning classes so Marines can study while deployed. Careers in real estate, the medical field or business are waiting for Marines who take the initiative now.

Marines who want to succeed both in the Corps and then when they separate, should make sure they square away their Marital Arts Program requirements, and then get the Marine Tuition Assistance funds that Uncle Sam has set aside for them.

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Posted by Heather @ 9:04 AM • 0 comments

Military Tuition Assistance Helps Guard Soldiers on Long Deployments

Friday, August 31, 2007

A recent USA Today article covering The National Guard Association of the United States' General Conference in Puerto Rico highlighted the strain that longer deployments are putting on National Guard soldiers, their families and their civilian careers.

As of August 2007, out of a total of 162,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq, approximately 30,000 were National Guard soldiers. Some National Guard soldiers now serve on deployments that are as long as 15 months.

"When you're deployed, it's tough on you. It's tough on your family," Col. Steven Bensend of the Wisconsin National Guard told USA Today. "When you get back, you want to separate yourself from military things." Col. Bensend is an agricultural consultant in Wisconsin who returned from a one-year tour in Kuwait to find that he'd lost many of his clients.

For Guard soldiers who want a backup career or are looking to switch into a whole new line of work when they return home, 100% online military courses can help National Guardsmen prepare for civilian careers while they're deployed in Kosovo, Africa, Iraq or any number of places. Military continuing education is a way for Guardsmen to prepare themselves for their military to civilian transition when they return to the States.

In exchange for their service, the National Guard will pay up to 100% of a soldier's military tuition for online courses. It's a chance for Guard soldiers to receive training to become a home inspector, real estate agent, property manager or medical transcriptionist.

As long as Guard soldiers have access to the Internet and a computer, they can take military classes online when they're off duty. U.S. Military Tuition Assistance is a military education benefit that Guard soldiers have earned, and they need to take advantage of it while they're serving on active duty. This is, in effect, a military education grant and soldiers must make sure they use this opportunity for no-cost career training.

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Posted by Heather @ 4:08 PM • 0 comments