(USAF) Other than instructor duty and cross-training (I think), what's CCAF for?

[OfficerA]

Good afternoon all,

So I finally got my degree (technically got it back in December, but only physically held it since yesterday), and while I've been told how great it is that I've knocked it out early and all I honestly don't see what's so great about it.

I've always looked at the CCAF degree as more of a stepping stone; I'm not even sure how I went about completing it, all I know is that I went to school/CLEP/DSST, and in time all the pieces fell into place and I had it. All this time though I've been aiming for my bachelor's more.

So what opportunities can I get out of this? I've been told instructor duty is easier now, since having it done eventually is a prerequisite, and I believe it has something to do with cross-training as well. Is there more to it that I'm missing?

[UptonSinclair]

The CCAF degree looks good on your EPR, but it isn't really going to open up a ton of opportunities in the Air Force. From what I read, it is a requirement to make E-8, but I assume you aren't there yet. Outside of the Air Force, I wouldn't consider it different than an other Associate of Applied Science. It is resume padding.

[OfficerA]

The CCAF degree looks good on your EPR, but it isn't really going to open up a ton of opportunities in the Air Force. From what I read, it is a requirement to make E-8, but I assume you aren't there yet. Outside of the Air Force, I wouldn't consider it different than an other Associate of Applied Science. It is resume padding.

And that's what I figure too; despite the force shaping going on right now I can tell many of the older Airmen here (regardless of rank, but typically SSgt and above) are still comfortable that the Air Force will be there for them until retirement, as many people here were going up for multiple CCAFs, and not just instructors who have to end up with two as a job requirement.

Glad I'm not counting on this all that much; it's a nice milestone, but I'd rather have job security if/when my job gets axed.

[Prloko]

No other service has this. I'm sure it took a lot of hard work for the Air Force to implement this program and get accreditation for this. The Air Force gives every enlisted Airmen a chance to earn REAL college credit for their hard work and a degree to boot without having to go through ACE or anything else. I have taken my CCAF credits and applied them to several universities, they all accepted at least some of the credit if not all of it and it saved me two years of additional schooling.

I proudly hang my Associates in my home because a lot of hard work went into it, two tech schools, ALS, NCOA and a few college courses. As far as utility, my degree has been well received when my interviewers bring it up, since it is an applied science degree directly related to my career.

You may think you put no work into it because the 15 gen ed credits were CLEPed, but think about the hard work you put in at basic, tech school, and on your job. A regional accrediting agency felt that it was equal to college course work (64 credits worth).

Can I ask what career field you are in? The credits may be directly transferable into another degree. I know mine, Contracting, fit well into the BSBA Operations Management at TESC, I was so glad I had those credits from CCAF.

[OfficerA]

Gah, I'm so jealous of Contracting... not only do your certifications mean something on the outside world, but we in Personnel (3S0) never win against you all when it comes to awards and such.

In my case, while I found schools that fully accepted all 64 credits from the degree what I've found is that the General Management degree from TESC was simply a faster route for me, thanks in large part to CLEPs and DSSTs. Even though one of my English classes duplicated thanks to the education office's oversight, and even though my 5-level (8 credits) is completely inapplicable to the rest of my degree as it overlapped with the electives I've already taken, I still managed to cut down on the credits needed for the BSBA in a short amount of time and actually overtake my current school, which has a hard limit of 40 credits I believe for transfer vs TESC's lenient policy.

At this time I'm down to the last 11 courses I need for the degree (which happen to be my last CLEP and DSST exams for the degree as well, which are Introductory Business Law and Principles of Finance respectively). I'm going to go through Penn Foster for the capstone, and the rest I'll TECEP as much as I can, starting with Advertising and Security Portfolio Management, for the residency requirement.

I'm happy with how I've planned things out, and the CCAF definitely helped. I guess I'm just a tad weirded out as there seems to be a lot of folks who are more than happy with just an associate's.

[Prloko]

Gah, I'm so jealous of Contracting... not only do your certifications mean something on the outside world, but we in Personnel (3S0) never win against you all when it comes to awards and such.

In my case, while I found schools that fully accepted all 64 credits from the degree what I've found is that the General Management degree from TESC was simply a faster route for me, thanks in large part to CLEPs and DSSTs. Even though one of my English classes duplicated thanks to the education office's oversight, and even though my 5-level (8 credits) is completely inapplicable to the rest of my degree as it overlapped with the electives I've already taken, I still managed to cut down on the credits needed for the BSBA in a short amount of time and actually overtake my current school, which has a hard limit of 40 credits I believe for transfer vs TESC's lenient policy.

At this time I'm down to the last 11 courses I need for the degree (which happen to be my last CLEP and DSST exams for the degree as well, which are Introductory Business Law and Principles of Finance respectively). I'm going to go through Penn Foster for the capstone, and the rest I'll TECEP as much as I can, starting with Advertising and Security Portfolio Management, for the residency requirement.

I'm happy with how I've planned things out, and the CCAF definitely helped. I guess I'm just a tad weirded out as there seems to be a lot of folks who are more than happy with just an associate's.

There are many military members who joined so they WOULDN'T have to go to school. I knew many of them in my old career field. It's a little different in contracting since it is mandated to have business credits in addition to any OJT. Remember, many of the people who wanted to go to college just went to college and not the military, hence why many are happy with their CCAF Associates. If your plans include a Bachelors and Masters, that's good on you, and will only make you more competitive in the outside world.

At this point it sounds like you're done, so I won't recommend any new course of action. Just remember to have an excellent GPA if you plan on commissioning.