Forgot to address this:
Non Ducor Duco said:
I believe with AF you have to have a masters to get rank of Major. It may not be a stiff requirement, but i heard it is near impossible to get promoted past Captain with out one
Masters is what is called
masked until the O5 board. 15 yrs ago, yes you needed a Masters for O4, but currently it is O5.
The reason many AF O3s get their masters at this point is because of TA. The time commitment (obligation) owed runs concurrent with your ADSO.
Additionally, your job is not as time consuming as a Field grade officer (O4-O6). Kids are young if you are married, and you have more free time compared to later on.
Plus, the AF can change their mind as quickly as they did when deciding to mask the Masters. Bullet made O4 in in 98, and it was not masked. The next board it was masked until the O5 board.
~~~ It is hard to get a Masters done in 12 months if they decide to unmask it again for an O4 board.
Finally, another HUGE reason to get it done before O4 is for PME. When selected for O4, you have the ability to apply for in residence ACSC. Bullet did CGSC(Army equivalent of ACSC) they had only 60 AF officers at Leavenworth. Every single student there had 2 things in common.
1. Masters completed
2. ACSC in correspondence or seminar completed.
Attending PME in residence, especially a sister PME speaks volumes to the AF O5 board. Only about 10% go in residence, out of that 10%, only about 10% go to a sister school.
~~~ Bullet went to Leavenworth, PCS'd to the Pentagon in June. His IPZ DP/P/DNP PRF was due in July. He thought because he was new to the office, and 2 others were up for O5 he would get a P. He got the only DP.
Had he not gone to CGSC or ACSC, chances are he would have received a P. He got CGSC because he did his Masters as an O3 (5 yrs in AF). That square filled allowed him to do ACSC in correspondence as a newly minted O4.
PME for the AF never ends. If you want to be promoted in the AF being pro-active regarding every educational aspect is the MUST. If you want to do 20 in the AF, every step you make should be plotting out the step after that.
Bullet as a 111 WSO opted to jump out of perfectly good airplanes with the 82nd instead of going to Cannon AFB. He got his Masters there. That was pre-planned when he got the assignment because it allowed him to X train into the Strike Eagle, and stationed at Elmendorf. He parlayed this into his next assignment as an O4 select SJAFB, he did in correspondence ACSC at SJAFB. He had every square filled for ACSC board because he was proactive.
~~~ 82nd AB ALO
~~~ Masters
~~~ In correspondence ACSC.
He always thought about how the next assignment would be a factor for the assignment after that. He didn't stop there. Many also thought he was crazy to go to the Pentagon. He did so because as a WSO (aka CSO now) he knew he needed to plan for his 2nd career. That Pentagon assignment opened doors for him when retirement became our future. He had 2 job offers before he retired.
Had he listened to his AF friends that he was a fool for jumping out of perfectly good airplanes with the 82nd, our life would be different today. He always looked long term regarding his next step.
The beauty of the military is if you think long term, not just short term, you can write your own ticket. It is not just Masters or PME, but also assignments.
OBTW, Bullet will tell you his yr at Leavenworth was the best ever. The Army is not going to have an AF officer the DG out of the class. The AF will see them higher because they went to a sister school. In his 20 yrs of AF, this was our hardest yr. as a married couple.... he literally spent more time at home than at work. I think in the end he was able to schedule M and F off every week, and T-Th it was 8-12.
Again, that one decision in 92 to jump altered his path for forever.