FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
In a step forward to providing degree-credit programs to military students attending the Medical Education and Training Campus, an accreditation team from the Community College of the Air Force spent Aug. 23 through 25 reviewing affiliation candidacy status for several of the METC enlisted medical technical courses and also toured the campus.
CCAF is a federally-chartered, degree-granting institution serving more than 320,000 active, guard, and reserve enlisted Air Force personnel.
Additionally, the school partners with more than 90 affiliated Air Force schools, 82 education service offices around the world, and more than 1,500 civilian academic institutions.
With virtually all military enlisted medical training being consolidated at Fort Sam Houston as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission ruling, the new METC tri-service school house educates and trains medics, technicians and corpsmen from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard.
"We're committed to meeting or exceeding the standards set for accreditation by the Community College of the Air Force. They help us to train to a higher level," said Rear Adm. Bob Kiser, METC commandant.
"Every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Coast Guardsman will feel a tangible benefit from our continued affiliation with the CCAF."
The Air University Board of Visitors, which oversees CCAF and sent a subcommittee to participate in the campus tour, approved a "mission transfer" of the credit-awarding courses for the 882nd Technical Training Group upon consolidating with METC from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas to ensure the continued award of CCAF credit to Air Force students.
The credit also applies to Navy and Coast Guard students participating in METC programs that include Air Force students. Any portion of curriculum not granted credit by CCAF will remain eligible to receive American Council on Education recommended credits.
"With the activation of the Medical Education and Training Campus in San Antonio came the need for CCAF to certify METC as a CCAF-affiliated school. This process has several steps and takes one or more years to complete," said Dr. Bruce Murphy, chief academic officer for Air University.
"The Board of Visitors subcommittee was impressed with the METC's progress on accomplishing its mission of educating the world's finest corpsmen, medics, and techs," Murphy added. "They also complemented Rear Admiral Kiser and his team for their leadership in bringing about the vision of combined education and training for all services."
Sixty-eight Air Force courses affecting 18 CCAF degree programs moved from Sheppard Air Force Base as part of the BRAC consolidation effort.
The METC consolidation also brought together four other major learning institutions; those include the Army Medical Department Center & School at Fort Sam Houston; the Naval School of Health Sciences in San Diego; the Naval School of Health Sciences in Portsmouth, Va.; and the Navy Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes, Ill.
With the approval of the Air University Board of Visitors, METC will assume affiliation status in the fall and will continue awarding credit to Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard students completing the CCAF-approved courses.
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