Why Is Education Important to Enlisted Service Members - Essay Example

Education is often treated as a silver bullet in our society – the solution to poverty? Education! To disease? Education! To crime? Education! There are many cases when this “silver bullet” treatment is not entirely accurate; education cannot solve all of our problems. 

A service member’s removal from society during their term of service can be an incredible challenge to them, and free education can help diminish this problem. Like prison inmates, enlisted service people spend a great deal of their time sequestered from “normal” society – while on deployment they live by different rules and codes than they would back home. This can make re-transitioning into society extremely difficult, but education, which provides both paths to suitable employment on return and can provide perspective for a life in the military can help smooth these transitions between “normal” and “military” society.

Another important reason to provide free education to service members is the different skill qualities and career lengths they get from working in the armed services. The average military career is not a life-long one – most people choose to retire from this grueling career path relatively early in life (compared to other professions) some get out as soon as their first term of service is done, while some make it into their thirties and forties. When they retire, they often have a long and productive life ahead of them – but not necessarily that many skills that can translate directly to new job placement.

Yes, some gain technical skills in communications or maintenance, and of course, they learn things like trust, teamwork, and so on from working in the military but this may be of only limited utility. Education, either in the form of courses, certificates, or anything else, can help enlisted people get a happy and productive second career in civilian life. Education may not be the silver bullet to all of humanity's woes, but it can help smooth transitions between military and civilian life, leading to important long-term benefits for the people who serve our country.