AnotherGoodDeal

If the Air Force was serious about education then it would send officers to obtain real master's degrees. There are already programs like this for medical officers, force support, CE, etc. You are not required to pay tuition during SOS but the Air Force pays to maintain the facilities and staff. I agree. However, based on the quality of education you get from an online school, I could just buy the books and work hard to learn the material. I disagree. I have seen sub-par performers make Colonel based on nothing more than looking good on paper and timing. I have also seen extraordinary pilots and leaders being passed over because they had not finished their AAD and wouldn't be "competitive." There are only so many hours in the day. You can either spend them writing OPRs, learning more about flying, spending time with the family, sleeping, etc. Choose which one you want to suffer while you work on an online AAD. If you have enough money saved / invested then no it wouldn't be taxing on the family. I never said I was separating - it's my backup plan for being RIF'ed due to lack of master's degree. I am not arguing that people should not try to further themselves as officers and leaders. I am arguing that a degree in "Space Law" won't help you lead a wing. I am arguing that reading books on previous wars and learning your job is more important than paying a diploma mill for a degree. Perhaps if we rid ourselves of these little check boxes then maybe we will have to look a little bit harder at career performance. The master's degree requirement has already held back enough hard chargers and pushed too many weak performers to the top. It's an irrelevant metric and should be completely eliminated from the miltiary. "If getting advanced academic education makes you a better performer in your job, i.e. STEM and professional career fields, pursue the education and let the improved performance show in your performance reports ..." - Gen. Welsh

Amazing!

Even though this isn't what I said... I'll bite. I'd love to go to Rome or Barcelona too - we have no issues there. You assume I don't work hard already? It has nothing to do with the amount of work and everything to do with what I am working towards. I know I'd take an online college about as seriously as my cyber awareness challenge CBT. Although, now that I think about it, I did go back through and collect all the trophies so maybe I'd like online college. You don't need the GI bill to send your kids to college. I agree that trident university makes you a better person and officer... on paper. There is no butt hurt here. I know the possible consequences of my decision - that's where having a backup plan comes into play.

When General Welsh made "Blues Mondays" optional it seemed to happen almost instantaneously - optional master's degrees? Not so much. The bureaucrats will not accept this new status quo lying on their back. The people who already completed their master's degree feel they "deserve" to be rewarded for drinking the Kool-Aid. All of our current Air Force managers have their master's degrees complete so why should the next generation be exempt from such a ludicrous requirement? Personally, I'd love to get a master's degree in something relevant or useful - if only the Air Force would send me. I refuse to waste my family's time, my time, and the tax payer's money (TA) on a degree that serves no purpose other than checking a box. I know it will hurt my career and may even get me RIF'ed but so be it. I feel that sticking to my guns about what is right is more important than looking out for my own career. The ironic part of this whole mess is that if I get RIF'ed I'll likely go to school full time and complete a master's degree. My advice - if you're not going to play their game, have a backup plan ready.

Our execs are still requesting master's degree progress for our CC's strats. Most people in operations "get it" but the promotion board is a competition and they'll do what it takes to make sure they're picked instead of the guy that would rather spend time with family.

I'm not sure what For-Profit Online University is going to do now that officers aren't required to get a master's until colonel.

First post.... Navs - we appreciate your contribution ACs - everyone still respects your authoritah Isn't this thread supposed to be about masters degrees?