TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --
Education is the cornerstone for career progression in the Air Force. As support services return to Tyndall in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, the Tyndall Force Development Center is one of many that has opened its doors to the base’s Airmen.
Tyndall hosts several school liaisons and a national test center for Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP). Recently, those school liaisons have come back to Tyndall and are located in the Military Personnel Section.
“The education center is allowing us to have temporary hours in their office,” said Matthew Wright, Troy University Tyndall Air Force Base area support center coordinator. “We are occupying the Wednesday time slot right now on base. Obviously, we have the Troy University Panama City Support Center. We call that our “in-town location,” at 527 Airport Road, Panama City, Fla., 32405. It is a fully-functional, operational site that our military students are able to us as well. We are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.”
As Airmen and their families reach out to continue their education, several of the on-base schools have provided monetary assistance to offset costs in lieu of tuition assistance if the member missed the deadline.
“We are waiving application fees for active duty military students,” Wright said. “That is something we did before the storm and something we will continue to do. We also have a promo code ‘TroyCares.’ For that, anyone can enter that code on their application to waive the fee up until Jan. 15, 2019. We have also created an 850 Strong scholarship, an $850 scholarship that can be put toward their tuition or cost of books. We are also continuing military and family scholarship that reduces the cost of tuition down to $250 per credit hour. This allows military students to use Tuition Assistance, fully funding their education, or to reduce the cost of [military] dependents’ tuition by half.”
Airmen who use standardized testing programs such as DANTES to acquire college credits toward their chosen curriculum of study will unfortunately encounter a delay at Tyndall. “Our school was impacted a little bit more than the other schools, with the education center, the damage it sustained,” said Dr. Suzanne Remediez, Gulf Coast State College director of military veterans’ services. “We run the national test center here at Tyndall, which is one of the top 10 in the U.S. for the number of tests we put through for CLEP, DANTES and Pearson View. A lot of the support we provide for Tyndall has been hampered due to the storm. We cannot currently provide DANTES, as they must be completed in a national test center. But, CLEP exams, we can provide at the main campus. They have extended the testing hours at the main campus. We are now open until 7 p.m. for testing, and we are also doing Saturday testing.”
As Tyndall continues to bring back services to provide a sense of normalcy, the professionals of these school institutions understand the part they play in helping Airmen and families attain happy and fruitful futures.
“We are not only supporting our active duty population, but also our veteran population, said Dr. Suzanne Remediez, Gulf Coast State College director of military veterans’ services. “One of the challenges we had was within [the initial] 28 days after the storm, if we wouldn’t have opened our doors, our veterans would have lost their housing entitlements. Dr. [John R.] Holdnak, [Gulf Coast State College president,] was very adamant that we needed to get back into the routine.”
Taking a pause puts you out of that routine, gives you idle hands,” she continued. “That is where things become frustrating and overwhelming. It may seem like the last thing on your mind is education, but right now is a prime opportunity to get back into that sense of normalcy with your education. One class is just one step closer to achieving your goals.”
Remediez’s sentiment was reinforced by her cohorts at other institutions.
“We have been able to get so many people to come in telling us that school is the one normal thing in their lives now,” Wright said. “It gives them something to look forward to and it puts structure in their lives. For some people, their jobs have changed – it may not even be here anymore. They say, ‘I need to go back to school and give myself more opportunities. Education does that. Education provides so many pathways and removes so many ceilings. Troy will continue to be here to support this area, we call this place home.”