Seize educational opportunities Published Jan. 4, 2010 By Lt. Col. Michael Dombrowski 30th Space Communications Squadron commander VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Why'd you join the service? To tour the world ... to become part of something bigger than yourself ... family tradition? To be honest, I've heard all of these reasons and dozens of others, but more than all of these reasons combined, the number one reason that people join the service is the opportunity to improve themselves. This most certainly is not an accident! Today's Air Force demands the world's finest Airmen; Airmen who have the intellect, drive and passion to operate and maintain our nation's high-tech arsenal of freedom. Whether you are one of our security forces defenders or a cyber operator, our state-of-the-art weaponry requires state-of-the-art Airmen. Unfortunately, far too many of our talented Airmen simply don't take advantage of the training, certifications and educational opportunities that our Air Force offers. Too often we fall victim to the tyranny of the urgent and lose sight of why we joined the service in the first place. Instead of taking that class on Tuesday night or completing the CBT so that you can complete a certification exam, many Airmen decide to wait until they have more time to focus on their studies and this time never comes. Jobs get busier, families get larger and the free time we thought we'd have never quite materializes. Years pass and before we know it, we're on the far side of our career wondering where all the time went. What is even more surprising is how many of our Airmen simply don't realize how close they are to their associate's degrees. Once Airmen complete basic training, make it through technical school and earn their 5-skill levels, most are within four or five classes of their degree. Throw in Airman Leadership School or any college credits prior to coming into active duty, and all that separates an Airman from an associate's degree is one or two classes. Even if that Airman can't pass the College Level Examination Program tests for the remaining classes, the Airman is probably just a couple of months away from a degree! Sadly, most Airmen don't even get to this point. Because education isn't on their list of urgent tasks, it often falls victim to the myriad other tasks that fill up the day. Don't let this happen to you! Today's opportunities for personal and professional development are the best we've had in generations. Today is the day for you to get up out of that chair and drive over to the Education Center. Make an appointment with that education advisor and figure out how many classes you have left. Before you leave, grab a course catalog from one of the universities and sign up for classes and when you get back to the office, sign up for one of the GI Bills. If you play your cards correctly, you can finish school while you are in the service and save those education benefits for your family. For more information on these fantastic benefits visit http://www.gibill.va.gov/ Today's Air Force has taken away virtually every excuse for not pursuing higher education. School is paid for, universities are located at almost every Air Force base and, with the advent of online courses, students can take courses almost anywhere. Carpe diem!