Civ Ed and Warrant Officer Career Progression

[dirtyfoot]

I saw a similar topic mentioned in another post and didn't wanna hijack.

 

I'm currently still in IERW, but in keeping an eye on the long term, I'd like to make a solid decision regarding civilian education.

 

I can either work towards a BA in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle, which I'll need about 50 credits for after graduating IERW, or I can continue with my degree plan with Excelsior College, which is a BS in Military Leadership.

 

The latter will take a significantly less amount of time, as the majority of my 80 credits apply towards it. My only goal in Civ Ed at this point is to be as competitive as possible for promotions later in my career.

 

Does it matter much what a WO has a degree in, or simply that he/she has one?

 

 

 

[dovq2011]

I can't speak for the WO side but for RLO (I imagine it's the same), the degree itself is what matters, not so much the field of study. It only matters if you're in a specific functional area (Operations Research, Strategist, Space Operations, etc.).

 

Otherwise it's really up to the individual what they get their degree in - I would certainly not recommend an undergrad in English, History, Psychology, International Studies, or any other liberal arts unless you don't plan on using your degree for a civilian job and just love the subject or if you plan on pursuing a graduate degree in one of those fields to do... whatever.

 

For the record my degree is in psychology and other than the random tidbits of knowledge - it's relatively useless if I got out of the Army and decided not to get a graduate degree in it. Hope this helps.

[TachedOutOffRoad]

I'm going to ERAU right now. It is only something to set you a little apart from your peers in the pilot world, hours is what you need here.

 

BUT, I was talking with a LTC who is working on his second masters and he told me some words that I thought were wise:

 

Him: Are you any smarter now that you've taken calculus as a 32 year old? Do you need that sh*t?

Me: No sir.

Him: Right. And I'm not any smarter than you because I have my masters. But you know what continuing education does show?

Me: No sir.

Him: it shows employers, supervisors, ect, that your are trying to better yourself and are trainable. That you have the will and skill to learn and complete whatever new task that they need.

Me: Roger sir. Can you set me up with an IPC date now?

Him: No. Go away.

 

Just start it and it becomes part of your routine like PTing. You can free up a few hours a week for one class if you want to.

[Joe_P148]

I'd argue that doing a B.S. in aeronautical science is putting all your eggs in one basket.

 

Sometimes opting for diversity in your degree field broadens your abilities down the road if you become incapable of performing pilot duties.

 

As long as the Army is paying for me to go to school I'm using every bit of TA I can.

[Yamer]

I'm about to start ERAU when I get home next month. Any advice for attending online or for using TA I should know about beforehand? Any mistakes learned about I could avoid?

 

 

I've also heard that as a Warrant, the degree doesn't matter as much as just having one.

Joe is right though also, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[dovq2011]

I'm about to start ERAU when I get home next month. Any advice for attending online or for using TA I should know about beforehand? Any mistakes learned about I could avoid?

 

 

I've also heard that as a Warrant, the degree doesn't matter as much as just having one.

Joe is right though also, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

It's more or less self paced - I'm in their graduate program online and it's not very labor intensive, but weekly assignments, a paper for the term, etc. If you dedicate maybe an hour or two a night you'll be set. Try to get ahead by at least a week (professor dependent).

[Yamer]

I'm assuming there's book purchases for all classes?

[dovq2011]

Yeah, I just used amazon for most and bought used. No sense in buying a brand new textbook for $200+ when you can get it used for like, $70 and it's still in decent shape.

[d10]

Him: Are you any smarter now that you've taken calculus as a 32 year old? Do you need that sh*t?

Me: No sir.

 

I hate this so much. Calculus always gets picked on for being useless. It's not. I mean if you just learn the steps involved without understanding why you're doing what you're doing, yeah you'll probably never use it and you won't feel like you're missing out on anything in life. But if you really understand it, you'll find ways to use it to make your life better. Have you ever been flying around in really cold weather and running a bit light on fuel so you turn off your heater and fly max range to the next fuel spot? If you had paid better attention in Calculus you could calculate your own max range value and you'd realize it's not the value published in the charts. And the difference costs you more than you'll save by shutting off the heater. So I'll stay warm and still land with more fuel. Also, your job is to move a vehicle around in 3 dimensions. Having a more intuitive understanding of the relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration will make you a better pilot.

 

Rant over/back on topic, if you want a degree to be more competitive in the Army's promotion system, just get your ERAU degree in Aviation Management like every other pilot who wants the quickest route to a BS. If you want to learn something that will be more applicable to life or a second career, understand that there are degrees like that out there as well.

[Creep0321]

Does anyone know if IERW fulfills any credit requirements for any of ERAU's Master's programs?

[TachedOutOffRoad]

I hate this so much. Calculus always gets picked on for being useless. It's not. I mean if you just learn the steps involved without understanding why you're doing what you're doing, yeah you'll probably never use it and you won't feel like you're missing out on anything in life. But if you really understand it, you'll find ways to use it to make your life better. Have you ever been flying around in really cold weather and running a bit light on fuel so you turn off your heater and fly max range to the next fuel spot? If you had paid better attention in Calculus you could calculate your own max range value and you'd realize it's not the value published in the charts. And the difference costs you more than you'll save by shutting off the heater. So I'll stay warm and still land with more fuel. Also, your job is to move a vehicle around in 3 dimensions. Having a more intuitive understanding of the relationship between position, velocity, and acceleration will make you a better pilot.

.

I understand and agree somewhat.

A math oriented brain is very useful, needed, and I think I have one. But finding anti derivites??! Or the slope of a polynomial curve at any given point?!? I will bet a drill check that I never find a antideritive again. Ever.

 

Physics was great. Much more useful and relates more to what your speaking of i think.

 

I am pro education. As a 33 year old now, married, three kids, two jobs, I'm want/need my schooling to be efficient, productive, and realtive.

 

I live five minutes from a huge university and the clueless idiots that walk out of there after four years and spending $200,000 of mom and dads money is just amazing.

 

 

 

I also dropped my FULL RIDE to Tulane after a year to enlist the USMC Infantry. So I may possiblely be an idiot.