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Ceremony to honor graduates

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Seven Tinker Air Force Base employees will be recognized today at a ceremony honoring their completion of a technical graduate degree program. All of the graduates earned master's degrees in science or engineering through the Long-Term Training program managed by the Air Force Sustainment Center Engineering and Technical Management Directorate.

Angie Tymofichuk, AFSC/EN director, will introduce the graduates during a reception scheduled for 2:30 to 4 p.m. today in the Patriot conference room in Bldg. 3001. Family members, friends and co-workers of the graduates are expected to attend the event.
LTT is a program "targeted to foster the attainment of technical and scientific competency within the Science & Engineering workforce," AC-ALC Instruction 36-603 relates. "This training is designed to rapidly increase the competencies of the center's S&E technical and leadership abilities."

"Our LTT program is a perfect example of the AFSC Leadership Model at work," Ms. Tymofichuk said. "With a relatively small amount of resources, we are focusing on our S&E workforce and developing them to achieve art-of-the-possible results."

All seven LTT graduates attended Oklahoma State University or the University of Oklahoma and earned either a Master of Science Engineering and Technology Management degree, a Master of Science Electrical Engineering degree, a Master of Science Mechanical Engineering degree, or a Master of Science Electrical and Computer Engineering degree.

The 2012-13 LTT graduates are:

Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex: Geoffrey Dolinger, 559th Software Maintenance Squadron, MSEE degree from OSU; Greg Goff, 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group, MSME, OU; Laura Hazen, 555th Software Maintenance Squadron, MSETM, OSU; and Timothy Wilson, 558th Software Maintenance Squadron, MSECE, OU.

448th Supply Chain Management Wing: Jose Berrios, 423rd Supply Chain Management Squadron, MSME, OU; and David Jones, 424th Supply Chain Management Squadron, MSEE, OSU.

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center: Paul Thai, 559th Software Maintenance Squadron, MSETM, OSU.

The program's funds are managed through AFSC/EN. Tuition, fees and textbooks for the enrollees are paid for up to three semesters while they study for a Master of Science degree at a local public accredited university. In addition, the students do not report to work but continue to receive their full salary while attending school.

The program's expenses are underwritten through the Engineering Directorate, said Faith Mailu of the Workforce Development Branch in the OC-ALC.

March 29 is the deadline for nomination packages of eligible AFSC scientists and engineers who want to enroll in the LTT class of fiscal year 2013-14. Selection will be competitive. A nominee must be a GS-09 or higher and have at least one year of continuous federal service. Students also must be able to complete the master's degree program within three consecutive semesters. Classes for the selected candidates begin this August.