Holloman captain makes most of Air Force educational opportunities

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Warren Spearman
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  We as Airmen all have different reasons for answering the call to defend our great nation. Some of us join to travel the world. Some of us join to honor a legacy. There are some of us who join to better ourselves, and in the process, we can help others.

Education is a key that some use to open this door. It is the key that Capt. Derandoria Young, an Air Force social worker with the 49th Medical Group, used to help her, and in turn, to help others under her care.

Her career path has been an interesting journey. Starting out as an enlisted member, she was only 19 years old and in her second year in the Air Force when she came to a crossroads.

"My goal was to get an education and get out," said Captain Young. It was only after a conversation with an Air Force social worker that put her on the road to her current position.

She received her degree in social psychology at Park University, and then went on to get a graduate degree in public administration, her first of two master's degrees. She then received special permission to attend the University Of Texas School Of Social work in Austin, Texas, while serving on active duty.

While receiving her Social Work degree, she took a trip that would change her perspective on life. In 2010, she and 61 other students took a trip to Ghana, a small nation on the west coast of Africa. The trip was designed to expand the educational experience.

"It was there I learned that everything you need, you probably already have," she said.

After graduation, she returned to her base which was Langley AFB, and worked under an Air Force social worker for two months, learning everything she could while preparing to enter into the Direct Commissioning Program as a Social Worker.

The entry process was intense. In 2011, there were 100 people applying...for only 12 positions. Air Force Social Workers also needed three years of experience to deploy, which she did not have.

She did have one advantage. Being a technical sergeant with 11 years in the military, she knew that experience, and knowing the inner workings of the Air Force was something you couldn't replicate.

And after writing a two-page paper on her Air Force Social Work experiences, she was accepted into the program, where she is now working, and living her dream.

"The Air Force has been good to me," Captain Young said. "It's given me and education and career." She is a huge advocate of making the best of the opportunities the Air Force offers and to never give up pursuing your goals.

"If you're determined, Captain Young said, it will work out."

If you are interested in finding out more about educational and commissioning programs, log onto these websites:

http://www.allmilitary.com/gibill/airforce/ela.html
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcetrng/a/bootstrap.htm
https://mymilitaryeducation.org/app/answers/detail/a_id/2233/~/air-force-educational-leave-of absence-(afela)-program