How important is civilian education to a service member's success?

education and wisdom are two HUUUUUUGGGGEEEEE sides of the spectrum. Education cannot and will not ever give you wisdom. The military though is a place that can.

Not bashing getting an education, but going to school in no will ever make anybody wise.

Education is a platform or foundation in which your experiences can attribute to wisdom.

SPC (Join to see), you have a great point. However, the word "allow" was chosen to imply the possibilities if you make the most of opportunity. I apologize if I didn't make that clear.
SSG (ret) William Martin, that's a great phrase to paint a visual from. Also, there are 6 of you on Rallypoint. Fun fact.

TSgt Joshua Copeland, good point. They keep changing when we need a Masters.

Capt (Join to see) and if it is masked or not.

It imagine it is frustrating if your requirements, whether they are written or unwritten, change. This would pose a challenge when attempting to set personal goals or providing mentorship to others. To error on the side of caution, I guess one should pursue the highest level of education traditionally associated with their goals.

CW3 (Join to see), the standard AF advise for Officers is to complete your Masters by or shortly after pinning on Capt. Doing so sets you up regardless of if it is masked when you go in the promotion eligibility zones.

Great response! I also think that the ultimate responsibility to perform as a functioning and contributing member of any organization falls on the individual. This in part, as you mentioned, is based upon finding the right balance between education and training. I would not say that personal growth is necessarily a side benefit for most people, but more of a secondary goal. For example, I purse higher level education based on my desire to better contribute to my organization and to better develop myself for the future.

I would like to thank you for your post – I am going to incorporate the three pillars into my initial counseling with all my new aviators.

Self improvement is a focal point in every training regulation but if someone was to ask a service member with a bachelor's or master's degree if obtaining a degree is important they would say YES, but those that do not have a college degree say it is not important. Now, given the numerous programs available to service members there is no reason why a member should not want to have an higher degree of education which will ensure a productive future after the military. Higher education is better for all parties: the military will have more knowledgable personnel to accomplish the mission, members will have greater opportunities for success, and overall higher education increases our economy and GDP!

I must say that unless the civilian education is COMPLETELY complimentary to the soldiers' military skill, I fall in line with the ones who see little (NOT none) worth that civilian education will bring to the soldier, OR the Army. In other words, not all soldiers get advanced civilian degrees in their respective Army career fields. Some want to expand their training into other areas to be more broad, and therefore (seemingly) offer more chances for employement opportunities after Army. Not truly well thought out, but... I retired recently, after 27 years. I will not get another job, just enjoy life on my ranch. I joined in 1984, and made the rank of First Sergeant before going to the dark side. My earliest years were in the Army that placed higher value, and more promotion points, for MILITARY education. When we got rid of Spec-5/Spec-6 & Spec-7 ranks, the education requirements were skewed, as well. GO FIGURE! I personally had come within 12 hours of my Master's Degree in Computer Science/Computer Engineering (yes, both). I am a Cisco Certified Network PROFESSIONAL, not the more common Associate. I am very proud of my accomplishments, and LOVED my later career choices, but I cannot honestly say that I ever met ONE soldier who was a better soldier because of civilian education. Civilian education IS good for folks who have/want civilian jobs. MILITARY education makes for better SOLDIERS! And they ARE, oft-times, mutually exclusive. Military electronics is NOT the same as civilian electronics, except for basics. A B.A./Economics can provide NO battlefield expertise to a Grunt! MANYMANYMANY soldiers are TREMENDOUS soldiers, but reach a level of false incompetence due to the ill-concieved military importance placed on a civilian education that should not be considered so important in OUR world. Some folks cannot, and even SHOULD not, excel in college level courses, but should be recognized for the natural excellence they could provide to our soldiers because of natural talents they may have for being a soldier. However, because of a ridiculous set of standards, standards NOT neccessarily important to being a soldier, future soldiers will be robbed of a potential amazing leader's talents because they couldn't attain the unimportant CIVILIAN level of education, and therefore get promoted to the importent levels they SHOULD have been promoted to. I've met VERY FEW bad natural leaders of soldiers who could give a crap about their civilian education, but have met OH SO MANY "worthless-as-tits-on-a-boar" civilian educated "leaders" in my 30+ years of Army experience. If you are honest, I know everyone can say the same thing. Civilian education is, and should be, a benefit soldiers obtain from service to country, but not a REQUIREMENT to excel in our Army for those who have no natural college ability, OR EVEN DESIRE to attend college.