Army Continuing Education System director visits Fort Drum

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- When Sgt. Donnie Dosalua, a squad leader at D Company, 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (LI), and his Soldiers went to their dining facility on the morning of July 29, he found an opportunity to give his Soldiers more than a just a balanced breakfast.

That's where they were approached by Mary Ann Vaughn, lead counselor at Fort Drum's Education Center, who asked them if they knew how to use the tuition assistance the Army provides. The 10th CAB Dining Facility was hosting an education expo in an effort to inform Soldiers about their education benefits and how to take advantage of them.

Dr. Pamela Raymer, Army Continuing Education System director, visited Fort Drum for the first time that morning to speak with members of Fort Drum's Army Education Center at McEwen Library and, afterward, she visited the expo.

"Marketing is very important," Raymer said during the education initiative. "We would like every Soldier to take advantage of those 16 semester hours (per year). Events like this are one of the ways we can serve our Soldiers better."

Another way to increase Soldier participation in continuing education is to inform commanders of the services that education centers can provide them, said Joseph Agresti, Fort Drum education services officer.

"There are many services that we offer to commanders," Agresti said. "One of those services is a briefing at the unit level to inform every one of their Soldiers about their education benefits."

So far in fiscal year 2015 at Fort Drum, 794 junior enlisted, 1,028 noncommissioned officers, and 88 warrant and commissioned officers have enrolled in nearly 13,000 semester hours paid by Army Tuition Assistance.

"That's more than $2.6 million," Agresti said. "With enrollments for the fall semester, we should match last year's $3.3 million."

Soldiers have an obligation to themselves, primarily, and the Army to continuously improve themselves, Agresti said. By providing tuition assistance, the Army has made a commitment to Soldiers' well-being during their careers and as they transition to civilian life.

In collaboration with the Soldier For Life - Transition Assistance Program, ACES will launch an online decision support system called VIA, which will be accessible through GoArmyEd this fall.

"Based on interests each Soldier enters, VIA will recommend an occupation," Raymer said. "Within the same program, Soldiers will be able to see income projections based on what level of education they complete."

In the future, SFL-TAP and ACES will provide incoming Soldiers with time-based milestones, during the first half of their initial enlistment, which is when VIA could be used to help Soldiers create goals, Raymer said.

"The plan is to provide leaders access to their Soldier's education goals by making education and transition plans a part of the Ar-my Career Tracker," Agresti said. "When leaders are aware of each Soldier's education goal, they'll be able to help them reach it."

Many of Soldiers learn trades and skills to be able to fulfill the duties of their military occupational specialty. Dosalua and his crew are mostly 15Ds, aircraft powertrain repairer, but in spite of having the skills and the experience, they are not credentialed or certified to use that experience outside of the Army. Agresti said the Army is working on that.

"The Army is working on a project called the Army University," Agresti said. "The goal is to regionally accredit all Army training, which means Soldiers would receive college credits for their training -- actual college credits, not recommendations to an institution, which is what we currently have."

According to Agresti, in order to do that, Army trainers have to be accredited by a governing body. After that, those trainers can work to get their training centers accredited.

"Once the training facility and the instructors are accredited, Soldiers will obtain college credits for their training," Agresti said.

That means, sometime in the future, Soldiers like Dosalua and his squad could be credentialed or certified during their training.

Until then, they can use tuition assistance to pay for courses that bridge the gap between college credits granted based on Army recommendations and certificates and credentials that Soldiers need to use their skills in the civilian sector, and that is what Dosalua recommended to his Soldiers after speaking to Vaughn.

Before they left, Dosalua and his Soldiers took a GoArmyEd pamphlet.

"Come and see us at the Education Center," Vaughn said.