Community College of the Air Force: Great way to jump start college education

  • Published
  • By Capt. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  When Tech. Sgt. Ivan Kobets walked across the auditorium stage with certificate in hand he earned something that can never be taken away from him -- an associate degree from the Community College of the Air Force.

Sergeant Kobets was one of 10 reservists who received their CCAF degree during a commencement July 10 at the 3rd Airlift Squadron auditorium.

The CCAF is a federally-chartered degree-granting institution, which partners with 90 affiliated Air Force schools, 82 Education Service Offices located worldwide, and more than 1,500 civilian academic institutions.

Sergeant Kobets, a 512th Airman and Family Readiness technician, already earned a bachelor's degree in human recourses management from Wilmington University in 1995; however, he decided it couldn't harm anything to add to his educational accolades by earning a CCAF in social services.

"I love my job of helping Airmen and their families by reaching out to them and assisting them with maintaining their readiness," he said. "Earning a CCAF degree not only increases my job knowledge but improves my performance, which only helps my office and the mission."

Improved job performance, was also one of the reasons Master Sgt. Mike Wright, 326th AS loadmaster, said he decided to complete his CCAF degree.

"It's a great start in obtaining your degree, which can only open doors for you later in life," said the sergeant who has two years of college completed and is pursuing a bachelor's in history. "All supervisors should encourage their Airmen to pursue their CCAF degree, because aside from being free, you only end up improving yourself and your work center."

The first step Sergeants Wright and Kobets made to learn more about earning their degree was to make an appointment with the 512th Mission Support Squadron Education and Training Office, located in Building 202 on the second floor. Surprisingly, they only had to take a few classes, which they earned through the College-Level Examination Program, better known as CLEP. These tests, free through the Air Force Reserve, allow people to receive college credit for what they know by passing a test on that subject.

For Liberty Wing Airmen who have a degree or some college it's typically only a matter of taking a few classes to meet the 60 credits required to earn a CCAF degree. Airmen without any college experience might be closer to a degree than they think, said Tech. Sgt. Carrie Huot, education office manager.

"All Airmen earn college credits by completing basic training, technical school and professional military education courses," said Sergeant Huot. "Depending on the person and their career field, it can be only a matter of meeting the 15 general education credits, which consists of classes like math, speech, humanities, social science and written composition."

Also, earning a CCAF degree is great start for those with a goal of obtaining a bachelor's degree.

Thanks to the Air University Associate-to-Baccalaureate Cooperative, or ABC, Airmen who have attained a CCAF degree can use this program to apply their CCAF credits to a bachelor's degree related to their Air Force specialty. ABC has partnerships with various civilian higher-education institutions to offer four-year degree opportunities via distance learning. All participating schools will accept CCAF credits, said Sergeant Huot.

Since issuing its first degree in 1977, the CCAF has awarded more than 335,000 associate in applied science degrees. Sergeants Wright and Kobets, as well as the other Liberty Wing members who earned their degrees July 10, are now part of those statistics. Airmen who would like to add to those statistics, can do so by making an appointment with the education office by calling (302) 677- 3517.