Nuclear careers combine degrees, PME Published June 18, 2003 By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott Air Force Print News WASHINGTON -- Officers in nuclear-related career fields will be among the first to participate in a program that combines professional military education and advanced-educational degrees, a Pentagon official said.Majors through colonels in nuclear science and engineering career fields will be able to earn both master’s degrees and PME credit for Intermediate or Senior Service School through the Sandia Nuclear Weapons Fellowship Program, according to Brig. Gen. Robert L. Smolen, Air Force director of nuclear and counter proliferation.The Sandia program dovetails perfectly into Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper’s “Total Force Development” plan, Smolen said. Under the plan, qualified officers will be offered advanced degrees and tailored, modular, PME. “The Sandia fellowship program will give a very specific set of expertise to a small number of officers in an area where we’ll need significant expertise over the long term,” Smolen said. “The nuclear challenges we face … are increasingly more important.”Officers who attend the program will graduate with a broad background, making them eligible to participate in any number of nuclear-related missions, including “anything in the space and missile business,” and joint assignments within the Department of Defense or the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Smolen said.The 21-month-long Sandia program replaces the current Nuclear Technologies Fellowship Program, also operated at the Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. Officers enrolled in the NTFP will continue with their studies until graduation.“This is a pretty prestigious program,” Smolen said. “We are (becoming) more concerned about weapons of mass destruction, and this program will provide the graduate with the opportunity to do not only nuclear, but all kinds of WMD work.“This will be a great opportunity to have contacts in the entire scientific community, where it relates to any kind of large-scale WMD issue and counter proliferation,” he said.Another benefit for Sandia fellows, Smolen said, is they will learn from many of the pioneers in nuclear-weapons technology.“It’s a unique opportunity to participate with people who have made history,” he said.