Reservist graduates CCAF, becomes first in family with college degree

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Veronica Aceveda
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Tech. Sgt. Melena Quetel became the first of 11 children in her family to receive a college degree Dec. 6, 2014, at the Community College of the Air Force graduation ceremony here.

Thirty-four years after she graduated high school, the 46th Aerial Port Squadron reservist declared, "there's no such thing as being too old, you're never too old to learn."

Quetel is the seventh of eleven children, who were raised in a working-class family in the suburbs of Cincinnati.

Upon high school graduation in 1980, she said it was understood her parents couldn't afford to send her to college, especially with four younger siblings still at home.

"My grades weren't good enough for a scholarship, and I didn't want to go into debt," said Quetel, who joined the Air Force at 19.

Her father was a lithographer, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He was initially against Quetel's military aspirations. 

"At the time, he felt the service was no place for a woman; but, for as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be in the Air Force," said Quetel who served 12 years on active duty.

"When I joined, the Air Force was only 11 percent women and very few jobs were available to women," she added. "But, I set my mind to it and went for it."

Due to the limited number AF career fields available to women, Quetel served nearly a year in the Delayed Enlistment Program.

Once she arrived in Texas for Basic Military Training, Quetel said she loved it.

"It was more privacy than I had ever had," she recalled with excitement in her eyes. "I had my own bed, my own locker, and my own clothes - no hand-me-downs. And, I didn't have to stand in line for the bathroom."

Unknowingly at the time, Quetel met her current husband Joseph at BMT. The two cryptological linguist recruits were both shifted to become parachute and fabrication specialists. Following technical training, they parted ways and began separate AF lives.

While stationed at her first assignment in Japan in the early 1980s, Quetel said she doesn't remember hearing much about the CCAF program. While she was interested in furthering her education, she said it took a back seat to marriage and starting a family.

By the time she reached her second duty station in 1986, she had three small children. It was there at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, where she first learned about the CCAF and began taking college classes using tuition assistance from the Air Force.

During a return assignment to Japan in 1989, Quetel completed a couple more classes but had to pause for life stressors, which left her as a single parent. As her enlistment contract dwindled, Quetel's final assignment was closer to her family in Ohio at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

"As much as I wanted to go to school, there was no time and definitely no money," said Quetel who separated from active duty in 1991.

A short time later and 10 years after first meeting, Quetel and Joseph, who was serving on active duty in North Carolina, reconnected and married.

For 11 years, Quetel was a stay at home mom, who endured three permanent changes of stations and five deployments as a military spouse.

When her youngest son joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2003, she said she began entertaining the idea of returning to military service herself. The following year, she enlisted as a transportation specialist with the Air Force Reserve's 46th APS here.

With the children out of the nest, she and her husband both deployed to Kuwait in 2006.

In her late 40s, Quetel's husband retired, and she cross-trained into the education and training career field, also keeping busy with various volunteer organizations.

"I thought about it all the time," said Quetel with regard to finishing school. "I just felt I never had the time to pursue it."

She said it wasn't until 2010 did she start looking at the possibility of taking some classes but was still skeptical about being able to juggle her responsibilities. With some mentoring and encouragement from a co-worker, Quetel said she was inspired to begin again. Her leap began with a visit to the 512th Education and Training Office, located in Bldg. 261.

"Mr. John Young was very instrumental in helping me understand how many credits I needed for my CCAF and what classes I needed to take to fulfill those requirements," said Quetel.  "He also coached me in the creation of my degree plan. My education goals and plan are now at my fingertips online through the Air Force Virtual Education Center."

At the beginning of 2013, Quetel, a grandmother of two, needed 11 credits to earn her associate's degree in her secondary career field of transportation.
With a renewed sense of motivation, Quetel enrolled in college through a local university's satellite office, also in Bldg. 261.

The college student, now in her 50s, took a class after work, twice a week; she participated in a lunchtime class three times a week. She also took a hybrid course, where she said she even did classwork at 6 a.m. in her pajamas.

"I really nailed down the process," she said. "And, as my unit's training manager, I have used my experience to help guide others in my unit toward their CCAF.
Quetel was one of seven aerial porters honored in the 2014 CCAF graduating class.

Her husband and eldest son's family attended the event.  Her parents, who are in their 80s, traveled from Ohio to see their daughter be presented not one, but two associates' degrees. One was awarded in transportation and the other in education and training.

Col. Raymond A. Kozak, the 512th Airlift Wing commander, presented Quetel her degrees on stage and then addressed the graduates and the audience.
"Lifelong learning is about getting better all the time," he said. "By you receiving these degrees in these major areas of study, it increases our strategic agility in the best Air Force in the world."

Following the ceremony, her mother Rose Linz smiled with pride and said she wished Quetel's entire family from Ohio could have been here for the event.
"She set out to prove she could do this, and she did," her mom said.

Her father, who long ago changed his perception of women in the military, beamed with pride and applauded his daughter's efforts, made possible through the Air Force.

"Earning my CCAF degree was almost free," she said "It wasn't a loan, it was a gift. And, who wouldn't want that? I regret not making the time to pursue my degree sooner. I feel more confident and accomplished, plus I've increased my future promotion potential. The Air Force has been good to me."

With 20 years of combined active-duty and reserve time, Quetel can add another first to her sibling rivalry.

She was the first sibling to join the military, the first to visit a foreign country and now the first to get a degree.

"I've done a lot of firsts for being a number seven," she said with a grin.