Published: July 05, 2008 10:50 pm         

Grandfather’s education advice resonates for Vance command chief, aide

When Chief Master Sgt. Ruben Gonzalez was a child, his grandfather passed along some advice that has had a great impact on his life.

“You don’t need college to be a good person,” Gonzalez’ grandfather told him, “but it makes you a better person.”

That is advice Gonzalez himself passes along on a regular basis in his job as command chief master sergeant for the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base, the base’s top enlisted man.

But his advice, he says, is more a matter of re-emphasizing the message young airmen have heard from Air Force recruiters.

“Our recruiters already do a great job of re-enforcing how the Air Force feels about education,” Gonzalez said. “That’s one of the major ways we recruit some of the folks, just because of the educational benefits that we have.”

Gonzalez took his grandfather’s advice to heart, obtaining his associate’s degree from Community College of the Air Force, then getting his bachelor’s from Park University. Gonzalez’ grandfather had only an elementary school education.

“He said that didn’t mean he’s a bad person. He said he’s a good person, but he said education just makes us better people,” Gonzalez said.

The educational opportunities offered by the Air Force, Gonzalez said, helped prompt him to enlist.

“It just gave me more opportunities,” he said. “It just opened up the opportunity to keep improving myself. The Air Force does that, they’re always looking for better ways to help their airmen be able to help themselves or develop themselves for a higher level.”

Senior Airman Omar Robinson, Gonzalez’ executive assistant, is one of those airmen taking advantage of educational opportunities offered by the Air Force.

Robinson already has obtained an associate’s degree in aerospace physiology from CCAF and another in technical management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In December he obtained his bachelor’s degree in technical management with a minor in logistics.

“It’s been a tremendous help for me,” Robinson said, “with the tuition assistance and just being able to have classes on base to kind of ease your way back into school after not going for a couple of years.”

Next week, Robinson will begin working on his master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in human resources. The Air Force’s tuition assistance program has paid for most of Robinson’s schooling, with the rest coming from the Montgomery GI Bill.

A chance to get his education paid for was one of the prime reasons Robinson joined the Air Force.

“I started off going to Long Beach State,” said Robinson. “I was working and going to school there. I didn’t want to take out a bunch of loans, so I decided to go ahead and enlist in the military because I knew they had a great educational opportunity.”

Robinson also plans to use his education as a springboard to become an Air Force officer one day.

Juggling a full-time military career, plus family life, is not easy, Robinson said, but the help of his wife has helped make it manageable.

“My wife allowed me to go to school for most of my career, and she stayed home with my son,” Robinson said. “Now she’s obtaining her bachelor’s as well, so now we’re trying to balance the two, where before she made it pretty easy for me to go to school and not having to take care of my son. It’s definitely tough, but it’s definitely worth it.”

Most general courses are available either on base or at local colleges like Northern Oklahoma College Enid or Northwestern Oklahoma State University-Enid, but the bulk of his courses, Robinson said, have been online. Online courses are beneficial for a busy airman, he said, but require a lot of self-discipline.

“As long as you can manage your time you’re basically good to go, but you do have to learn how to manage your time and definitely keep up with your studies.” he said. “If you can manage your time the Internet’s perfect for you, especially if you have a family or if you have a busy job.”

Gonzalez’s grandfather’s advice has reached his two great-grandsons, as well.

“I would sit down and do homework with them,” Gonzalez said. “They would be doing their elementary school homework, I’d be doing my college homework. Just be seeing that, they have now decided they are going to college. It’s an automatic, so it’s a ripple effect.”