Jerry Singleton, interim director of USD’s Master of Science in Global Leadership program (in civilian clothes), talks with Navy students in the program, from left, Lts. Rocky Burns, Joseph Cortopassi and Kelly Middleton. (photo/alandeckerphoto.com)

From extension programs to off-site learning, San Diego’s colleges and universities are marching with the defense industry.

While the San Diego Community College District is best known for serving its 100,000 local students, it also offers courses in locales such as Pensacola, Fla., and Norfolk, Va. Over the last two decades, SDCCD has emerged as the Navy’s largest educational training contractor.

“We offer educational programs at 13 naval bases across the country,” says Constance Carroll, the district’s chancellor. “Our student populations is a portrait in thirds, with 50,000 students in programs for credit, 50,000 enrolled in noncredit adult education programs and 50,000 at naval bases.”

Lisa Curtin, the district’s director of military programs, says the curriculum ranges from literacy and job skills programs to high-tech aviation, radar systems, and small arms marksmanship. Students may take a series of courses at SDCCD, such as basic to advanced electronics or basic to advanced culinary skills. The college is involved in the military’s anti-terrorism and force protection programs; they teach search and seizure procedures on the high seas, for example.

At the Pensacola naval facility, SDCCD employees teach pilots how to pack a parachute, and teach aviation techs to look for minute cracks in an airplane frame.

To educate the Navy, the district hires from the Navy. “Our instructor profile is a man who has recently retired from the Navy, has a master’s in a technical area and wants to continue the military affiliation,” says Carroll. “That’s the ideal candidate for us.”

Constance Carroll, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, says the district offers educational programs at 13 naval bases across the country.

Classes can last anywhere from two days to 10 months. Military students are on a very structured regimen. “They have required study hours that our (nonmilitary) students would revolt at, including Saturdays and Sundays,” says Carroll.

While the Navy students have high school diplomas, the college district is responsible for making sure they’re ready for college work. About 10 percent of the classes can be described as remedial skills.

“The investment in basic skills is extensive,” Carroll explains. “Textbooks and training manuals can be written through grade levels 16 through 20, so if someone graduates high school with level seven or eight, there has to be some training to bring them up to the higher levels.” Curtin says many of the SDCCD offered courses count toward college degrees.

Advanced Degree Opportunities

Military personnel chasing a graduate degree are the focus of a unique program at the University of San Diego.

USD’s Master of Science in Global Leadership, started six years ago by former provost Frank Lazarus and former School of Business Administration Dean Curtis Cook, combines geo-politics, international business practices and global leadership training in a 15-month program. The program’s interim director is Jerry Singleton, a former commanding officer of USD’s Navy ROTC program.

“We’ve had more than 300 students through the program,” Singleton says. “Most are officers, but 20 percent are civilians.”

Between 75 and 100 officers are served by the program each year; the cost of the program is about $30,000 per student. The Navy and Marines have provided about $3 million in grants to support the program, along with directly paying for one-third of the officers to take part in it. Veteran military officers also can use veterans benefits or military education vouchers.

Students in the program gather at USD for a five-day intensive session. Resident students, many of whom have left sea duty for shore duty attend class here, while distance education students take courses online. “One guy did most of his class work from Iraq,” Singleton says.

Navy Lt. Kelly Middleton says he and his fellow officers, Lts. Rocky Burns and Joseph Cortopassi, all members of the same helicopter squadron, are pleased with the program’s dual emphasis on both ethics and leadership along with MBA-style courses in international trade and project management. “It’s a great investment for the Navy in producing better officers,” Middleton says. The program also has “opened my eyes” to possible careers in diplomacy or international business, he says.

At the end of the program, distance education students gather at USD to wrap up the coursework and celebrate graduation.

Military Contracting Demands

Continuing education in San Diego is not limited to uniformed personnel. Military contractors have long had relationships with local universities. Under budget pressure, the Pentagon is encouraging the firms to adopt new sets of procedures to increase predictability in the products the military receives from contractors.

Don Muehlbach, director of technology at UCSD Extension, says the Department of Defense standards for information systems are important to contractors vying for billions of dollars in military contracts.

In February 2004, the Department of Defense released new standards for information systems called the DoD architectural framework, says Don Muehlbach, director of technology at UCSD Extension.

Nicknamed “DoDAF,” the program encourages contractors to model their information systems in a similar fashion. “Picture a system made up of people, hardware, and software,” asks Muehlbach. “How would you model that out, if it were like a blueprint of a building?”

DoDAF is important to contractors in competition for billions of dollars in military contracts. “It’s a discriminator,” Muehlbach says. “It’s like saying do it our way or you won’t participate.”

A Pentagon budget crunch lends urgency to DoDAF. “The military is being asked to do more with less,” Muehlbach says. “It’s all about system engineering. At the highest levels, officers are being told ‘you’ve got to do a better job with what we have; we’re not going to buy you new systems, so enhance what you’ve got.’ By laying out a standard, you get apples and apples (results) which is a better value.”

Local companies with employees in UCSD Extension courses include SAIC, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, BAE, ViaSat, L-3, Titan, NASSCO and Booz Allen.

The technology department offers about 400 courses. With enough demand, UCSD Extension will send its personnel out to a company’s worksite to cut down on commuting time.

No Age Discrimination Here

Some students in the military’s education partnership are as young as 6 years old. They study at William Penn Elementary School in Bonita with help from Navy Region Southwest volunteers. “We help out in the classroom, tutor the children, and on field trips we’re chaperones,” says Amalia Ramirez, command volunteer coordinator for Tacron Eleven’s Tactical Air Control Squadron, part of the Southwest region.

Tacron Eleven “adopted” William Penn in 1987, and has 10 volunteers visit the school each week. “The children have no previous association with the military,” says Ramirez. “We give them a better understanding of the military. They ask a lot of questions about our job. Personally, it’s a great feeling, knowing that the kids look forward to you being there. When you walk by they salute you.”

The partnership between education and the military comes full circle as military personnel trained by San Diego’s educators become the teachers of the city’s school children. At the same time, education is making a visible impact as a crucial element in the nation’s defense.