MST2 Anicia Hokanson: There're a lot of educational opportunities that you can get with being in, not only the Coast Guard, [00:00:05] but all the services. There's the GI Bill that you originally pay [00:00:10] money into when you first join and over the years [00:00:15] it actually goes from a couple of thousand dollars that you put into it to a few [00:00:20] several thousand dollars.
Sgt. Jeremiah Workman: And I can use that money when I get out of the Marine Corp or, if while I'm [00:00:25] still on active duty, the tuition assistance doesn't cover the college I'm going to, you can double-[00:00:30] dip into that GI Bill Fund also. So either way, while you're on active duty [00:00:35] you are not going to come out of pocket for college.
Sgt. Wayne Erickson: They want you to become smarter [00:00:40] so they're going to give everything they can for education. And there's tons of stuff [00:00:45] around post, if you want to go to the library, you can go to the library and they hook you up with the CLEP Tests [00:00:50] so you can get your first, basically, year of college out of the way. You can go sign up [00:00:55] for online classes. Basically anything you want to do, the military has it.
Airman Daniel Payne: CLEP Test is an [00:01:00] exam you can take to give you college credit as if you would physically go to a class and sit through a course. You [00:01:05] go to a local education office, they provide you with a book of study references, you study for [00:01:10] as long as you feel necessary to prepare for the test, you schedule an appointment, and you [00:01:15] take the test at your leisure. And then if you get the passing grade, you get the [00:01:20] appropriate credits towards your college degree for free.
Senior Airman Jennifer Gayheart: The Air Force has the Community College/ [00:01:25] Air Force. So basically, what that allows is any credits, all the training [00:01:31] that we have been through counts towards an Associates Degree. And then you have your few basic [00:01:35] classes that you would need to attend to finish it up.
Lt. Dennis Wischmeier: Specifically, I'm getting my [00:01:40] MBA right now, as I work in the Pentagon, which is great. I'm [00:01:45] married with two kids; I do not want to go to weekend school or [00:01:50] evening classes to get my Masters Degree. And so I'm actually doing it during [00:01:55] the work day, every Tuesday afternoons I go to classes right here in Washington D.C. [00:02:00] and I'm working on my masters and the military's paying one hundred percent of it.
Senior Airman Jennifer Gayheart: I've only been in for [00:02:05] three years and I've accomplished about 65 credits [00:02:10] and I'm only nine away from being complete with my Associates Degree.
Lt. Dennis Wischmeier: I think [00:02:15] everybody who's gone to college has switched their majors a couple of times or has [00:02:20] thought about what they're going to do for the future, but they do that while spending [00:02:25] thousands of dollars. By going into the military, you have that time where you're getting [00:02:30] paid, you're getting good skills, you're getting good education, and you can still [00:02:35] think about your future.
[00:02:37]
[End of Recording]
