European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 16, 1973, Darmstadt, Hesse A stars & stapes in depth correspondence schools and the military Market part h education military lifestyle Coc f of f airmen at Pitburg Are among the 50 per cent of servicemen in Europe taking courses. By Bill Walker staff writer education is a part of the military life style in Europe. Thousands of . Servicemen and women attend evening classes or spend part of the Day in courses covering topics ranging from elementary school completion to Post graduate study. Sixteen american colleges universities and institutes under contract to the Mili tary offer courses at hundreds of location sin Europe. Military officials say As Many As 50 per cent of the 305,000 servicemen in Europe Are engaged in some Type of command sponsored or supported course at any time during the year. In addition thousands of dependent wives and children take courses. The service member who wants to get a degree or certificate in an academic Type program finds the opportunities promising with scores of courses available. The air Man Soldier or Sailor who wants a vocational technical course May find the opportunities a bit More limited. Listed separately on these pages you will find College and vocational technical courses and where they Are offered in Europe. Educational officials say the vocational technical course area is drawing increasing response from serv ice members who want to gain an imme Diate skill they can use in civilian life or use to further their military careers. The Best Opportunity for vocational training the kind of training educators Label hands on May be the project transition program which offers a serv iceman the Chance to work for six weeks in a profession during duty hours. The work usually for a private business is done during the last six weeks of Active duty. The areas for transition training Are limitless hotel Motel management Wel Ding Auto repair meat cutting etc., to name a few. The Over All education picture for serv ice members in Europe is Good and getting better education spokesmen say. The opportunities for education Are As Good Here As in most areas of the unite states and better than Many said or. K. Douglas Beakes director of the Safe education program. I d say we have As much to offer the Serviceman Here in education programs As in Many areas of the United states noted Richard Kneisel head of the army s Gen eral educational development Agency. Beakes and Kneisel estimate 100,000 sol Diers and 25,000 airmen were enrolled in some Type of study program for at least a part of the last fiscal year. This includes those taking elementary and High school completion courses military occupation specially or technical occupational skill courses project transition and certificate associate undergraduate and graduate courses. During the present fiscal year in creased emphasis is being placed by military education officials on the vocational technical area. The army has begun work on a vocational course program aimed at the major troop concentration areas in Ger Many. Plans Call for new courses in Law enforcement hotel Motel management electronics Auto mechanics and Busi Ness management to beef up those Al ready offered. The major areas will include Kaiserslautern Ramstein Nuernberg Hanau Frank Furt and Augsburg. The air Force has also begun a push for More vocational or hands on Type courses. At the moment i d say we Are offering a fairly comprehensive vocational education program said Beakes. But during this fiscal year we re going to put additional emphasis on hands on courses until we get a comprehensive at present the air Force offers data processing courses at 17 of its 21 Large bases in Europe 15 of the 21 bases offer Law enforcement 12 have aeronautics courses and 19 offer mid management study. Air Frame and Power Plant study an avionics Are new course topics slated to be added in Many areas Beakes noted. The increase in vocational technical pro Grams May be balanced by the phasing out of transition. Transition under which 13, 032 soldiers and 700 airmen trained for a skill in Europe during the past fiscal year appears to be on the Way out. The top education spokesman at the Pentagon or. Richard m. Rose Deputy assist ant Secretary of defense for education continued on Page a 2 what s happening this is the fourth part of the stars and stripes in depth report on correspondence schools and the military Market. In today s eight Page Section you can read about the vast Range of education opportunities offered by on base education centers and military sponsored University programs. You can see what a typical army and air Force base each offers in the Way of vocational and academic training. And to wind the series up there is a checklist of Steps to take before deciding if a correspondence course is the course for you Friday november 16/ 1973 the stars and stripes Page a 1
