Some 600 sailors, Marines and Coast Guard members have been selected to take part in a pilot program conducted by the United States Naval Community College (USNCC). The newly established education program hopes to garner information that would provide the foundation for the future. Five institutions of higher education – Northern Virginia Community College, the University of Maryland Global Campus, Alexandria Technical and Community College, the University of Arizona, and the State University of New York (SUNY Online) are taking part. These schools began enrolling students under the pilot this month. Courses will continue through the semester’s end in June. Initially, the schools are offering courses in nuclear technology, cyber security, data analytics, English, mathematics and naval ethics. The service intends to expand into other areas once this first phase is completed.
The 600 students were selected for the pilot based on recommendations from their respective chains of command. The sea services are embracing the community-college approach with the understanding that an educated force well-versed in current events would be better prepared to understand the context of tasks they may be ordered to perform. Service leaders also recognize that expanded education opportunities are major incentives for enlistment and retention.
