Deploying Overseas with DANTES
Written by Katherine Belcher
MAE 2009 Volume: 4 Issue: 5 (September/October)
Bridge for Servicemembers Taking Advantage
of Educational Programs and Services Around the World.
It is no secret that military personnel are deployed to countries around the world, often to isolated and hostile duty stations. These deployments make it challenging for them to take advantage of the education benefits to which they are entitled.
The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) recognizes this need, and through its European and Far East advisers, plays a critical role in making it possible for deployed servicemembers to pursue their higher education goals.
Marti Readel, for example, is DANTES’ education adviser for Europe, and she travels from her office on Tompkins Barracks in Schwetzingen, Germany, to a host of places where military personnel are stationed, including Afghanistan, the Azores, South Africa, Kosovo and Norway.
“It is a wonderful job, working with all these individuals, TCOs [test control officers] and ATCOs [alternate test control officers], who in turn are working with the troops in continuing their education,” Readel said. “The overseas office is so important to all 20 countries that we serve. It gives the TCO or [education services officer] ESO the opportunity to ask questions and solve problems in real time, without waiting seven to eight hours and contacting someone in Pensacola. We are here when they have questions.”
On this side of the pond is the office of Far East Education Adviser Alan Matsushima, whose office is on Hickam Air Force Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Matsushima’s office serves military personnel stationed in the Far East, including but not limited to Hawaii, Korea, Guam and Japan.
“This is a great job because it covers all 12 services—active and Reserve components— and provides support to a host of different agencies,” Matsushima said. “It is a challenge learning all the ins and outs of each entity when you are assisting so many.
It is very satisfying to be able to inform so many servicemembers of the educational benefits available to them and their spouses. It is exciting to see them start on a program toward a GED, degree, certificate, license or technical training.”
POINTS OF CONTACT
The overseas advisers have the immense responsibility of providing advice to DANTES leadership about the quality and effectiveness of DANTES’ services and programs throughout the U.S. European and Far East commands. The advisers also serve as points of contact for resolution of procedural problems and provide training about DANTES programs and services.
The office of the European adviser provides direct support and assistance about DANTES’ programs to military education personnel in Europe and the Middle East. Readel works with DANTES TCOs and ATCOs at 70 different test sites.
Readel and her small staff provide support to the education programs for all branches: Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy. Readel visits education centers around the world, where she conducts workshops and presentations about DANTES services and programs. Her office provides program support to personnel deployed to Afghanistan, Djibouti, Iraq, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Specifically, Readel trains professional educators on methods for the most effective use of DANTES programs; provides solutions for problems that arise in the field; assists in the selection of TCOs; evaluates the effectiveness of education services offices; creates and provides counseling aids to theater education personnel; and makes recommendations for revising and improving DANTES programs.
The office of the Far East Adviser opened in August 1989 in Seoul, South Korea, but it was moved to Hickam AFB in 2007 due to downsizing of the U.S. military presence in the region. The Far East office is important because it enables DANTES to provide on-site service on a yearly basis to the military education offices on most large bases. The office can be contacted via phone or Internet for questions and issues that come up on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, the office provides care packages for remote military locations, including ships, Coast Guard stations and detachments in Singapore, Thailand and Australia that do not have access to an education office. These packages contain DANTES and institutional materials that provide distance learning opportunities. When possible, DANTES briefings are provided to Reservists at National Guard units in Guam, Hawaii and Alaska.
“We serve where our patriots serve,” Matsushima said. Matsushima’s duties also include participating in education fairs, workshops and briefings, as well as providing training and assistance to DoD education communities such as family service centers, libraries and wounded warrior transition units.
Matsushima works closely with national testing agencies to provide marketing and training to national test centers and education centers. He also makes regular visits to ships, submarines and squadrons for pre-deployment fairs and “dependent day” cruises to raise awareness of DANTES’ programs and services.
Most notably, Matsushima is working with local colleges that he hopes will support testing in areas where there is none. For servicemembers stationed on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the only option for taking CLEP/DSST/Excelsior exams involves flying to Oahu. Matsushima is working with the Navy College Office to establish four sites on Kauai where paper-based versions of these exams can be administered. ♦
Katherine Belcher is a writer and graphic designer with the U.S. Navy and editor of the monthly DANTES Information Bulletin.