are infectious. When soldiers saw me taking classes, they knew that they needed to take classes too—not one of them was busier than me, and they knew it! These values were particularly important during the surge in Baghdad. It was such a chaotic time in Iraq where the enemy was changing tactics every day. It seemed like a dramatic chess game. As soon as we planned how to better protect ourselves and find the enemy, they would find a better and more efficient way to harm us and avoid detection. One of the enemy’s most effective ways of hurting us was to use improvised explosive devices that worked on an infrared beam. Once that beam was broken, a high-explosive molten projectile would rip through the vehicle, often causing a fatality or maiming many of the crewmembers. Our soldiers, just everyday members of the team, countered this by putting a device out in front of the vehicle to prematurely cause the beam to be broken, causing the EFMP to destroy the front of the vehicle and not the crew compartment. Within a few months, [the enemy] altered the beam to delay for a few seconds and then explode, thus destroying the crew compartment. We in turn extended the device a few more inches out front.
In order to play this kind of real-time battlefield chess game, you need to be a fast analytical and critical thinker. This made me work extremely hard every day at improving my critical thinking skills. Taking classes with Trident University helped me not only decompress and pull my mind out of the rigors of combat but it also helped me learn to look at problems from different perspectives. Developing these fast-paced analytical and critical thinking skills helped me solve many of the challenging problems commands in Iraq faced. Taking college courses also helped me with my negotiating skills and my ability to give advice to units on how to build services and infrastructure in the provinces in Baghdad. I was able to use many of the same business approaches I was using in my classes to organize and to settle contract disputes and other impediments to building infrastructure within the city. I was surprised to see how my business degree was helping me win hearts and minds by helping them help themselves. Today, I am able to use my education to show servicemembers that they can take college courses even while deployed, and they can then compete at the highest level in the military and civilian job market.
COLLEGE OF CHOICE FOR THE MILITARY
Your military training + college credit = a degree More than 50,000 servicemembers have graduated from Excelsior College* over the past forty years. Now it’s your turn to join the ranks. Consistently Ranked Top Military-Friendly College G.I. Jobs Magazine and Military Advanced Education
— Military, veteran, and military spouse discounts — Flexible, 8-week, online courses — Center for Military Education support services
Email: military@excelsior.edu Facebook: facebook.com/ECMilitary
Call: Visit:
— Success Strategies for Military and Veterans course — Credit for military and language training — Nonprofit, accredited institution
888-647-2388, ext. 1352 success.excelsior.edu/degreesformilitary
*Excelsior College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
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