Learn something new every day

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher R. Morales
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The Air Force urges Airmen to enroll in the Community College of the Air Force, and provides many other avenues to earn degrees.

The CCAF degree is an Associate of Applied Science degree based on an Air Force Specialty Code. Basic Military Training, technical school, Professional Military Education, Airman Leadership School and the Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer Academy offer credits toward this degree, but the majority must be done on one's own.

"Once someone has finished their CCAF [degree], they have satisfied their first level of education," said Desiré Thomas, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Education Center specialist. "You want three different degrees; your associate, your bachelor's and your master's. It makes you more marketable on the outside and a well-rounded individual."

The education center offers specialists to help active-duty, Reserve and National Guard Airmen plan their education because not everyone knows of the programs available and some degree requirements.

"A lot of young Airmen who don't like their AFSC say 'I don't want this degree,' and I tell them 'Yes, you do, and here's why,'" Thomas said. "It is a stepping stone to a bachelor's degree and the bachelor's degree doesn't have to be in your career field."

Airman 1st Class Aysia Sauer, 673d Air Base Wing Command Post emergency actions controller, plans to go through the Physician's Assistant program and learned from the education center that the Air Force's tuition assistance should cover all the prerequisite classes once she finishes her Career Development Course and ALS.

"I know with this program, if I am able to put [in] enough effort, I should be able to get in," Saur said. "This would get me up there much faster than what I had planned, which was to start with a nursing program."

Students have a few options to acquire the necessary credits, such as the College Level Examination Program and Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support. The CCAF can take up to 30 hours of CLEP and DANTES credit.

"It's something I push, especially for those who finished up their CDCs, but [are] not yet ready to take classes," Thomas said. "We have study guides on all of our tests and the [JBER Consolidated] library has study guides as well."

The CCAF class of 2015 for JBER consisted of a total of 331 active duty, 52 National Guard and 30 Reserve graduates.

Thomas added airmen have means to progress their education after an associate degree.

"You have so much money at your fingertips with the tuition assistance, the GI Bill, [scholarships] and grants galore - so just get those degrees," Thomas said. "There are a lot of schools that will accept up to 60 hours from your CCAF degree and apply it towards your bachelor's. Instead of the normal 120 hours, they would only need 60 hours or less."