Firsthand Experiences

Education Officer

If you think the best thing the military can do for your education is pay for it, you’re wrong. Of course, whether it’s tuition assistance or the Montgomery G.I. Bill, money for college is always good, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg as far as what the military can do for soldiers wanting to go back to school. University grants or scholarships are based on established criteria as published in the University's catalog and are awarded after verification that the conditions of eligibility have been met.

“We, and I hope it’s this way with every military education center, totally exist for the Soldier,” says Linda Cameron, Chief of Education and Career Development at Redstone Arsenal Army Base. “That’s the sole reason we’re here. But if you don’t use us, we can’t do you any good.”

Do you know what SOCAD schools are? How about an AARTS transcript? Both might help you out tremendously, but, if you’re like most prospective military students, you don’t have a clue about either. Linda and the education and career counselors who work with her do, though. They also offer career counseling, help with scheduling and time management, motivation and encouragement, study guides and aids and information about financial aid beyond tuition assistance. And that’s only scratching the surface.

“Most soldiers know us because we sign the tuition assistance forms, but I don’t want that to be our only interaction with them. The center is so much more. Few soldiers have any idea of the range of support and services we have to offer.”

On Redstone and at similarly sized posts, soldiers usually don’t even need an appointment to talk to an education or career counselor. “Just walk right in, and most of the time there’s no wait. We’re here for you.” At bigger installations, an appointment is often necessary, but you should discover your counselor to be worth the wait after only a few minutes at their desk.

Sometimes your education and career center will have the materials or information you need right there, other times counselors will direct you to where you can find it yourself. “You can file for Pell Grants online now. But no one knows this. If that’s what you need, we show you where to go.”

For those who don’t have an education and career center nearby, you should have one available by telephone. “It doesn’t really matter whether you’re there in person or on the phone,” Linda says. “We do a lot of remote advising, and it works out just fine.”

And if you’ve jumped around posts (and education counselors) a lot, no worries. Once you have a counselor help you get your AARTS transcript up and running, it is accessible nearly anywhere in the world. Whether you’re meeting with a new education counselor in Germany or the one you’ve always worked with at home in Oklahoma, they can just punch in your name and social security number and you’ll see exactly where your credits stand. (For those who don’t know, AARTS, short for Army/American Council on Education Registry Transcript System, is a computerized transcript system that takes eligible Army soldiers’ and guardsmen’s military education, training and experience and assigns college credits to them based on recommendations developed by the American Council on Education). We know AARTS sounds confusing; that’s just another reason to take advantage of your education counselor!

If you’re already talking to a prospective school and haven’t yet gotten in to see an education officer, feel free to ask the school what sorts of relationships they have with military education counselors. The most military-friendly schools will be able to rattle off a long list of education officers they’ve successfully worked with. One might even be on your post. Some schools even have trained Military Education Program advisor whose sole job it is to work with you (and eventually your education officer) to ensure you get full use of your military benefits.

“There are so many times during the application, enrollment, and financial aid processes and even throughout the course of their degrees where students can get confused and not understand something; but that’s what we’re here for, to get you through those times.”