My educational journey: Is a degree from the Community College of the Air Force value added? Published July 5, 2011 By Chief Master Sgt. Eric R. Wallace, Ohio Air National Guard Command Chief, 121st Air Refueling Wing COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As the Command Chief of the 121st Air Refueling Wing in Columbus, Ohio, I have always felt strongly about my civilian post-secondary education, while not making any great effort to obtain an associate's degree from the Community College of Air Force. And why should I? I have an associate's degree in Law Enforcement from Columbus State Community College, a bachelor's degree in Public Safety Management from Franklin University, and a graduate-level professional licensure in Education from The Ohio State University. I consider myself fairly well educated and am blessed with not only my Command Chief role with the Ohio Air National Guard but also a great job teaching criminal justice to 11th and 12th graders at a Career Technical Center in Central Ohio. The truth is, I have been looking at this all wrong. This is not a matter of one or the other; this is about not leaving ANY tools on the table with regard to who I am. And that is exactly what I have done for many years now by not putting a premium on obtaining a CCAF degree while I was building my civilian post-secondary education resume. Since I shipped off to basic military training in Jan. 1986, I have been building my CCAF transcript -- this includes not only BMT but also multiple AFSC technical schools and all of my PME! I've already earned so many credits, in fact, that I have whittled this down to a speech class and a math class to receive my CCAF associate's degrees. That is plural; upon successful completion of an intermediate Algebra class and fulfilling the speech/public speaking requirement, I will receive associate's degrees in Information Systems Technology, Criminal Justice, and Human Resource Management. With my eye firmly focused on obtaining CCAF degrees, I went to Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, and tested out of the speech class via the College Level Examination Program in April 2011. I am proud to report that after two full months of anxiously awaiting the results, I have been informed that I passed my CLEP test and am now focused on taking the appropriate math class to fulfill the last requirement in order to receive THREE CCAF degrees! I will proudly plug them into my current professional resume, and as I move forward in the Ohio ANG -- as well as in my current and future civilian employment endeavors -- the associate's degrees from CCAF will be every bit as valuable to me as my civilian post-secondary educational accomplishments. So what are you waiting for? Have your civilian post-secondary educational institutions send your official transcripts to CCAF and see exactly what it is going to take for you to receive your CCAF degree(s). Remember, EVERY educational experience that you have broadens who you are and tells employers what you are capable of.