Service And School A Good Mix For Michigan Airmen

MI, UNITED STATES

Story by Tech. Sgt. Daniel Heaton

127th Wing Public Affairs

An annual training trip at the same time that the school year begins didn’t stop three Michigan Air National Guard Citizen-Airmen from completing their mission – or their school work.

“I was able to talk with several of my instructors in advance and they were totally supportive of my military service,” said Airman 1st Class Derek Ferracciolo, who is about to begin his first year of college at Washtenaw Community College. 

Ferracciolo, Staff Sgt. Jamie Foster and Senior Airman Noah Campbell are all full-time college students and members of the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Wing. All three serve generally one weekend per month and two weeks per year of active duty for training as communications specialists in the 127th Communications Flight, based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. The three spent the last week of August and the first week of September on a training mission at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

For Foster, that mean bringing several thick text books along so that during the flight to Alaska aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker, she could get some study time in.

“It is all about time management,” said Foster. 

She is beginning her second year as a law student at the University of Michigan Law School. She completed a bachelor’s degree while on active duty in the Air Force. She hopes to be able to eventually serve as a lawyer in the Air Force, as part of the Judge Advocate General corps. Foster moved to Michigan and transferred in to the Michigan Air National Guard after she was accepted at Michigan Law.

Influenced by her father who was a police officer, Foster started taking classes in the criminal justice realm, but discovered she had a greater attraction to law classes. 

An unexpected encounter with the military justice system further cemented her desire to attend law school and set a goal to become an Air Force lawyer. An Airman in her squadron while on active duty was placed on trial in a court-martial. Her commander required members of the squadron to attend the court-martial, as a teaching moment.

“I was watching the JAG officers in the trial and the whole process was so interesting to me, that it sealed my interest,” Foster said. 

She’s been using the GI Bill and related benefits to pay for her education.

Campbell is also taking advantage of his military education benefits. He’s in his third year as a student at the University of Michigan-Flint, where he is working on a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems. He hopes to use that degree to further a career in computer systems with the federal government.

“I am going to school full-time and I am debt free,” Campbell said. “The Air Force has been the key to opportunity for me.”

Campbell said he’s been able to juggle being a student and being a Guardsman by being proactive about talking to instructors and staying ahead on school assignments.
The Michigan Air National Guard offers tuition assistance of up to $6,000 per year to college students. Additional GI Bill benefits are available for many Airmen, depending on the amount of time they have served on active duty. 

To learn about educational benefits for those who serve as members of the Michigan Air National Guard, recruiters at Selfridge can be reached at (586) 239-5511.