Lunch break classes lead Airmen to CCAF degrees

  • Published
  • By By Senior Airman Curt Beach
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  

When Master Sgt. Thomas Shuler realized he would be ineligible for future promotions unless he completed his Community College of the Air Force degree, his education quickly became a top priority.

 

Shuler, 2nd Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle maintenance flight superintendent, had been knocking out CCAF courses throughout his career and was just one Speech class away from meeting all the requirements for graduation. Per AFI 36-2502, Airmen eligible for promotion to senior or chief master sergeant must have a conferred two-year CCAF degree.

 

With speech class being a common last requirement for CCAF graduates, Shuler aimed to check the last box for his degree while also advancing the education of his fellow Airmen. He reached out to the universities operating out of Barksdale’s Education Center to see if an instructor would be willing to come teach Speech during the squadron’s lunch breaks.

 

“As long as a squadron shows a need for a class and can commit 10 or more students, our on-base schools are willing to go out to the squadron over lunch to teach,” said Danielle Williams, Barksdale Education Center counselor. “It’s great because there are a lot of mil-to-mil Airmen. So, if your spouse is deployed and you have kids, it’s not easy to find child care at night.”

 

The opportunity attracted 11 LRS Airmen who were excited about being able to take classes, without cutting into their evenings or missing out on time with their families.

 

“After a long day at work, you’re drained and don’t always have the energy to take night classes.” said Airman 1st Class Jesse Moffitt, 2nd LRS fleet management analysis, who completed the Speech class. “Plus, it’s a really comfortable environment, taking a class like Speech with people who you already know. It adds to the camaraderie because you’re sharing another aspect of your life with the people you work with. I definitely recommend it.”

 

The lunch time class proved successful with a 100 percent pass rate.

 

A few months later, LRS rallied enough students to begin another class, this time Psychology, which filled a CCAF social science requirement and yielded another 100 percent pass rate.

               

“This has motivated other folks within the flight to more actively pursue their education, not only with the classes we’re hosting, but also CLEP and DANTES tests for college credit,” said Shuler.

 

In its short trial run, Airmen taking LRS’ lunch time classes have already accrued 66 college credits and three Airmen have completed CCAF degrees.

 

“Our goal is to expand this program to offer more classes throughout the school year so that Airmen can fill as many of their general requirements as possible,” said Shuler. “We’d like to also open it up to Airmen across the base.”

 

Shuler doesn’t know if he’ll be selected for senior master sergeant, but he says advancing his education has made him a more well-rounded individual and has set an example for the Airmen he leads that if he can do it, so can they.

 

“It’s all about people,” he said. “This is one of my proudest moments in the Air Force for being able to coordinate something like this for other people.”