Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2009

Going to college in a combat zone

For today’s soldiers, all it takes is a laptop and a link to the Internet

When Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Varner’s workday ended he went to college, taking classes in religion, math, environmental science and persuasive writing.

But Varner never set foot on campus. Instead, he turned on his laptop computer and connected to the Internet from a military base in Afghanistan.

Taking advantage of the Army’s online education program, Varner is just one of thousands of soldiers who have pursued degrees while serving in combat zones and bases around the world.

After just three years, the program called GoArmyEd now serves 96,000 troops enrolled in some 200,000 courses taught by 145 accredited colleges and universities, including the University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College.

“Our students today are virtual,” said Shirley O’Neal, education director at Columbia’s Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest basic combat training center.

While all four of the nation’s armed services support online education programs for their members, the Army’s has the largest participation, said Jim Sweizer, vice president of military programs for the corporate-owned American Public University System.

About 34 percent of eligible Army soldiers are enrolled in online classes, Sweizer said.

The Army program offers one-stop shopping for troops.

By logging onto GoArmyEd, an online portal, soldiers can learn how much tuition aid is available, register for courses, contact colleges and universities, and even check their grades.

Army participation also is high because troops can connect to the Internet at most land bases, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sweizer said.

By comparison, most members of the Navy are at sea where it’s tougher to hook up to the Internet. About 17 percent of sailors are in distance learning programs, Sweizer said.

The greatest advantage of distance learning is flexibility, said Varner, who served in Afghanistan in 2007-08 with the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team.

“I don’t believe I ever could go back to a classroom,” said Varner, who earned an associate degree from the University of Phoenix. “I like that flexibility. I can take my class with me wherever I go.”

Master Sgt. Jesse Ramirez has been a distance learner since 2000, taking classes from American Military University, which is part of the American Public University System.

Chief instructor at the Army’s recruiting and retention school at Fort Jackson, Ramirez took two classes when he was in Iraq.

Studying some subjects online was challenging, Ramirez said. “Some classes for me need to be taken the traditional way. I had a very hard time with the algebra class,” he said.

Other classes “were excellent as I could study, read and review as my schedule allowed,” he added.

O’Neal said fans of online schooling “like the pace. Once they’re finished with a class, they go on to another,” she said.

Varner said his biggest challenge was keeping up with homework when he traveled about Afghanistan.

Varner, who served as a chaplain’s assistant, was stationed at Camp Phoenix, a large base with about 2,000 U.S. and coalition service members and civilians on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital.

Internet hookups were available in soldiers’ living quarters and the education center.

But at times, Varner had to go to smaller bases in remote areas of Afghanistan where connecting to the Internet was limited and strict time limits on its use were imposed.

That sometimes required him to ask instructors for homework assignments in advance, said Varner, of Moncks Corner.

Both Varner and Ramirez said they communicated with instructors via e-mail and said the classwork was difficult.

“One of the most frequent comments we hear is, ‘You know, I didn’t think your courses would be this tough,’” Sweizer said.

With so many schools participating in the program, soldiers have their pick of classes and can work on either four-year or two-year degrees, O’Neal said.

Another plus for the troops is that they can get credit from some classes they took as part of their military training, educators said.

Sweizer predicts distance learning will grow in popularity as the military improves Internet technology. He also believes more of the traditional, bricks-and-mortar schools will enter the field.

Some traditional S.C. schools participate in the Army program, O’Neal said. Those include USC, Coker College, Claflin University and Midlands Tech, she said.

Although Varner wrapped up his classwork while he was in Afghanistan, he did go to his graduation after returning home in May 2008.

“I got plane tickets and took my wife out to Phoenix for a vacation,” Varner said. “I was determined to walk the stage.”

Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503.

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