C a m p u s N e ws
in Thailand, he joined the North Dakota Air National Guard in 1981. He served as a maintenance officer and supervisor prior to serving in several command positions. In addition to his 1984 degree from UND Aerospace, Palmer has completed an extensive military and war college education. Palmer believes that vision is essential to any longterm success in aviation education, whether it’s flying airplanes or operating a UAS. “A significant element in this education process is to provide a vision for each student so they can see what the future holds for them,” Palmer said. “Our challenge is to translate that vision into reality. A vision must have a positive orientation. That orientation is guided by core values. They remind us what it takes to get the job completed. They inspire us to do our very best at all times.” It takes a team
UAS is a large, complex system that needs a lot of different kinds of expertise. That’s where Mark Askelson comes in. Askelson, a 1993 UND math and atmospheric sciences alum, is an expert in radar, which is used extensively in weather science and in UAS operations. “I’m the principal investigator (PI) on a research project with the UND UAS Center,” he said. Askelson, who is not a pilot, manages the Center’s ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system project, which was used this spring to patrol the flooded Red River in the area of Oslo, Minn. The ScanEagle will also be used here in the nation’s only program offering a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics with a major in unmanned aircraft systems operations. “Our program requires an optimal system, one with a proven operational track record, reliability and effectiveness to support our educational and research activities,” he said. From F-16 fighters to UAS at UND, Mike Nelson spent more than 20 years as a weapons system officer and pilot in Air National Guard F-16 fighters. His experience includes a lot of time overseas flying the planes in America’s international “War on Drugs.” Nelson is now a UAS course manager on the team. “I grew up around airplanes because my father was an Air National Guard F-16 pilot, and so was my brother,” Nelson said. “I got my commission in 1986 after completing the Air National Guard Academy of Military Science at Knoxville, Tenn. My various jobs took me all over the United States: eight tours in Panama and two in Curaçao and Puerto Rico in counter-drug operations, lots of them at night, catching drug runners. It was interesting work.” Later, he learned to fly UAS and became an instructor pilot for the MQ-1 Predator, an experience that gives him a lot of traction in the UND UAS program. JUAN PEDRAZA
Over There
Military puts the “D” in distance education
Active duty members of the military are proving that anyone who wants a degree from UND can get it using the University’s online distance education resources and government financial assistance programs. Staff Sgt. Shaun McKewin, a Grand Forks native and member of the North Dakota Army National Guard’s 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, is a senior majoring in criminal justice studies. Currently serving his third mission to Afghanistan, he hasn’t let being deployed overseas stop him from taking the courses he needs to complete his degree. “All the classes I’ve taken are selfpaced, enroll anytime, which works very well with variable schedules and less-than-ideal Internet access,” McKewin notes. The flexibility of online education helped when McKewin was sent to another part of Afghanistan and his textbook failed to arrive in time to make the move with him. “That’s one reason I truly appreciate the nine months allotted to complete the self-paced courses,” he said. When McKewin returns to the U.S. in late fall this year, he will need just one course to complete his degree. He started his freshman semester at UND in fall 2002 and joined the Guard in March 2004, then missed a semester because of training. His first deployment to Afghanistan in 2005 caused him to miss four semesters. In March 2009, he went back on active duty for his second deployment to Afghanistan and elected to stay in the country for a third assignment with his unit. “The base where I’ve spent most of my time is an airfield near the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province,” McKewin said. “Our job is to operate a tower-based surveillance system. Our team works out of the Base Defense Operations Center and works closely with other force protection systems and personnel.” During his time in the field, McKewin has taken or is taking two
Shaun McKewin studies for one of his UND classes while serving in Afghanistan.
French courses, two anthropology courses, medical anthropology, and forensic science. He’s also taking advantage of the GoArmyEd program, which pays tuition and fees directly to schools. “The student doesn’t have to pay anything up front, which makes it much easier,” he explained. Carol Anson with UND Veteran Services says she receives numerous inquiries every week from active duty military personnel in the U.S. and abroad about the University’s distance education program, and according to UND’s Office of Institutional Research, there are more than 120 active-duty military personnel taking online courses from UND. “They have a list of classes to choose from, either correspondence or the regular semester-based courses,” she said. “Usually if they’re on active duty, they use the tuition assistance program that pays 100 percent of their tuition and fees.” From there, Anson refers the potential online student to a contact in a department within their area of study where an advisor is assigned. “The advisor will see if they have credits that transfer and determine what they need to do to get a degree online,” she explained. “They get advisement through the department so they know exactly what they need to do to graduate with that degree.” PATRICK C. MILLER
s um m er 2010
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