What I Did with My College Degree

Graduation and Early Employment

Graduating with high honors from Michigan State University (MSU) in the Spring of 1983, my earliest claim to fame was at graduation itself...seated in the company of the world-famous NFL Kicker, Morten Andersen! I actually recognized him, calling out after the ceremonies were over, "Look, we graduated with MORTEN ANDERSEN." I was the only student in the place who seemed to know who he was, having run into him in the German Department, where I took two years of classes in a language he probably mastered in elementary school back in Denmark. Having earned my own way through college under the old Vietnam era GI Bill and working as a night receptionist/supervisor and traffic aide on campus, I was thrilled to have my degree finished without debt.

My husband Warren and I married just a few months earlier, honeymooned in Hawaii, and returned to work on the security staff as shift supervisors at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. I had earned a term of college credits working at another hotel and helped arrange for one of my Criminal Justice classmates to serve HER internship right at the Grand itself. While we created our own internships, most colleges work hard to give students experience during their academic studies. Our positions were paid, but often students work for free or at reduced wages in order to gain the technical experience. It's the job, work references, and personal contacts that are most important during college internships. My job at the Grand Hotel led to an early graduation, a wonderful job reference that was instrumental in gaining an Air Force commission, and I even landed myself a husband in the process!

Sandra Day O'Connor was the relatively new Supreme Court Justice when I was working the lowly job of "Fudgie Patrol," out by the porch area of the main road in front of the Grand Hotel back in the early 80's. After 6 p.m., our job was to ask if casually dressed visitors were guests of the Grand Hotel. If so, they were asked to use to lower lobby exit, due to the dress code on the parlor level. After being shocked that I didn't recognize her, O'Connor flounced away in a huff, stating, "I'm Sandra Day O'Connor and I'll walk wherever I want!" Oh well, at least it wasn't the owner's wife and I didn't get fired. So much for making connections with the judiciary elite...

Military Career Highlights

After my fourth year working seasonal security supervisory jobs on Mackinac Island, I was ready for something different. Degree in hand, I interviewed with a downstate security firm, worked in the Federal Courthouse in Detroit and applied/tested for jobs at the national level. Oddly enough, my second US Air Force recruiter called with a slot for Officers Training School on my birthday, while I was training for the Court Security Officer (CSO) job at their school down near Tuscon, Arizona. Everything came together at once, one of the more memorable days of my entire life. My basic introduction course and transition back to military life wouldn't begin until November, so I continued the CSO School and worked another few months in the shadow of Detroit's Renaissance Center. One of the Federal Marshals there encouraged me to join HIS government service branch, but by that time I had my sights set on the Air Force. This officer slot was the "job" (for me) and a career that REQUIRED a bachelor's degree just to get started.

I had my heart set on Intelligence since I was a little girl enjoying spy shows on TV and at the movies. My hero was Cary Grant in the movie "To Catch a Thief." It never really seemed possible, but the USAF offered me a billet in Signals Intelligence. The focus of my degree obviously had nothing to do with my work, but at least I had an Army enlistment behind me. My military police and security experience were valuable in the long run, as I had the chance to supervise and/or command 25-150 airmen and even worked a few temporary slots as Operations Officer, supervising approximately 200-400 technicians and my units' entire operations mission. Now that job was one HUGE headache, that's for sure.

Learning the job was like a foreign language. Signals Intelligence must have the most acronyms of any career path outside computer science. I actually remember a lieutenant with over a year's experience asking what a NSTO was during our shift change briefing. A New Signal Tip-Off (NSTO) is a type of report that was routinely briefed every day by the subsection we called Marburg. Marburg was an entire DEN of acronyms, its members devoted to searching out and describing/analyzing new signals. These gals and gents tended to be about the geekiest, albeit beloved bunch of eggheads on an entire operations floor of super-intelligent linguists, operators, and analysts. This youngish lieutenant had been counseled to "speak up" a bit more, "become visible." Unfortunately, HOW he chose to speak up was pretty negative to his career in the long run.

My own approach to learning the job was a combination of loads of listening to people talk and reading THEIR training material and manuals. Whenever possible, I asked to try to do the most menial of their jobs, or at least listen in while they performed their tasks. When I wasn't sure of something, I did my best to find out what I'd missed. Oh I made my mistakes, but I sure didn't advertise them at briefings! I remember my first commander, (then) Colonel Kenneth A Minihan, asking me why a certain antenna had moved to a different direction. To be honest, I'd never even noticed that particular antenna existed. I merely looked in the direction he was gazing, acted mildly surprised, and gave the canned response for idiot lieutenants, "I'm sorry, Sir, I don't know. Let me (research) look it up and I'll get right back to you." Lo and Behold! This crafty commander knew EXACTLY why the antenna had moved, but he wanted to see if I'd make something up. Not only did I learn the WHY, I also did a quick study of exactly how many antennae existed, what they did, where they were pointed and so on. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that guy was gonna be a general one day; actually, he ended up a three star Lieutenant General and in charge of our command as well as the Director, National Security Agency back stateside in later years. It was enlightening to watch him work, back at my first job. I've never forgotten him. He used to motivate us, saying, "Our job is to kill Commies or contribute to their destruction."

Junior Officers are often tasked with loads of additional duties. I always tried to hunt out and grab the type of things I enjoyed. In southern Italy, I was the flight commander and advisory support evaluator. I also re-wrote the unit mission briefings for the base visitors, both classified and unclassified versions. Because of my degree and the with honors caveat, I usually got any job involving writing I desired. Although it's a main part of any officer's career, speaking in public absolutely terrifies me. Nervous, I tend to all but throw up before any briefing, small or large. That said, I did win top grades at Officers Training School and even received a Letter of Recognition for my briefing on The Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel, during our junior management training course, Squadron Officers School (SOS), in 1989. (I'm more proud of the fact that I helped teach the WORST briefer in our SOS group how to brief and he won the other Letter of Recognition citation for his briefing.)

Back then, most officers tended to use a slide show, just like Alec Baldwin did in The Hunt for Red October. Those things are a disaster waiting to happen. One super dumbbell, a female officer from the Air Force Academy, briefed two or three times to the base commander and staff officers, with her all slides turned backwards. Our Commander was FURIOUS. She did it two weeks right in a row at the regularly scheduled Weekly Intelligence Briefing! I learned early on; never embarrass your boss in front of his/her peers or superiors. When briefing, I used as few slides as possible if I was FORCED to have them. I never showed pictures of airplanes, other than obscure aircraft or subject matter I knew inside and out. Given the opportunity, most Air Force pilots will drive you nuts with their questions on aircraft. They seem to love tripping up a young junior officer, so I never played that game. Seek out pictures of things you know, that's my motto!

Generally, I prefer simple printed overlays on a projector, ensuring the projectionist (whether for photos or slides) is the VERY BEST person you can find for that job. Preview the slides and rehearse a few times with the projectionist BEFORE you brief. Nowadays, computers and graphic design have simplified the "old school methods" and you can usually control the slides/screens without a third party. One basic fact remains -- if you're going to speak in public, do a good job! If you're NOT a good public speaker, bring along some folks to help you out and learn how to do it as soon as you can. Try spotlighting key areas of your talk with expert testimony. Give the chance for others look good and earn promotion points and evaluation fodder. Most college degree programs require presentations and public speaking during the coursework. Mine came from a basic high school speech class, theater arts, and special training in the Air Force.

Technical Skills and Advanced Degrees

A Bachelors degree opens the door to certain jobs, and my BA in Social Science earned me the initial consideration for a slot at OTS. Later on, test scores, experience, interviews, foreign language, letters of recommendation, and academic awards helped me win my first choice in a relatively technical job WITHOUT a technical degree. Had I stayed in the Air Force, a Masters degree was required. Many jobs require additional schools, advanced degrees, and experience to step up to the next level. For my first tour of duty at San Vito dei Normanni Air Station (SVAS,) I worked shift work for 18 months and had a difficult time scheduling classes there. The college class I did take seemed rather dry, so I figured I'd wait until I got back to the States to work on my masters. Omaha had a ton of opportunities for college classes; however, I tended to volunteer/get picked for temporary duty assignments throughout the 4-5 years I worked there.

I did go on to take many of the classes offered to junior officers in the Air Force, including the Battle Staff Course at Hurlburt Field FL, a Joint Staff and Operations Class at Norfolk VA, SOS in Montgomery AL, and a ton of others related to flying on the RC-135, which was part of my job at Offutt AFB, NE. That job took me overseas to Korea as well as into Desert Shield/Storm in 1990-91. Following my assignment in Nebraska, I went back to Southern Italy as the commander of a very small detachment. This required another slew of courses related to that mission. Most of those classes took place at Medina Annex in San Antonio TX and Colorado Springs, CO. The most exciting thing I ever did in these sorts of schools was the tour of Cheyenne Mountain. What a treat! I'm a big fan of the old move "War Games," and it was such fun to walk in the steps of Matt Broderick.

And Baby Makes Three

Around this point, I'd hoped for a slot at one of the post-graduate schools or an opportunity to pursue my Masters as part of a job. Having a baby really shook things up and like other parents; we discovered our new little tax deduction caused us to re-think our priorities. At this point, I was offered a temporary retirement, which eventually matured into a permanent medical retirement and disability. No, the baby isn't considered a disability in the military world; but the postpartum depression, aggravated by a series of moves and situational and age-related stressors couldn't have come at a better time. As the Clinton draw down of the military evolved, my job specialty was incredibly over-staffed. Many folks in my situation stayed on active duty, but the medical board stateside evaluated me with a 30 percent disability. They got rid of (surplus-job) me and I got out while the "getting" was good. Luckier than most, my retirement involves a small check and medical benefits for the family.

Since retirement, my degree is of subtler value. At this point, we're content to run our small Native American craft business most of the year, and I "putter" around with various support jobs. I've earned a few hundred dollars or more writing; I sit on a tax review board for my township and also work as an Election Inspector. I've worked in the local public school as an aide and ended up home-schooling our son along with my husband. I always draw the English and Math tutor duties, because Warren simply doesn't like either subject. I've always enjoyed classes, and recently I even worked for a few weeks this spring by testing, training and working with the US Census Bureau.

Lately, my degree came in handy while escorting our son around his whirlwind tour of campuses in Michigan. Oddly enough, he seems to be zeroing in on Michigan State as well...although Central Michigan University shares top billing. When I chose the college for my degree, I wanted the Big Ten Football and beautiful campus setting at MSU; yet it turned out to be the second best university in the country (at that time) for Criminal Justice, my major. Son Vincent seems to be putting a lot more thought into where he starts out, but the expansive campus at MSU appeals to him in the same way it appealed to me.

Final Thoughts

In closing, remember that your college degree can be as individualized as a person, depending on your own wants and needs. The degree is a tool, but it takes extra effort, experience, and training to make that tool work well. The jobs I've worked my 35 years of adulthood either benefited by my bachelors degree or were a direct result of obtaining that education. Continuing education throughout life improves the mind, if not always the pocketbook. And finally, "The strength of the United States is not the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have, but the sum total of the education and the character of our people." -Claiborne Pell. The university degree is general recognition that its holder is able to spend X amount of money and y amount of years in completing the (Z) project or "BS." (paraphrased from Professor Chris Vanderpool's introductory Sociology course at my alma mater. My own advice? If you're not good at speaking in public, keep trying.

Minihan, Kenneth A., biography. Retrieved from http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=6485.

Minihan, Kenneth A., quotation "Math and National Security--A Perfect Match for the 21st Century." Retrieved from http://www.ams.org/government/minihan198.html