Five Great Lakes command master chiefs are pursuing their educational goals through the Navy College Office while serving at Great Lakes.
    CMDCM Leon Walker, Naval Station Great Lakes (NSGL); CMDCM Brian Hughes, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC); CMDCM Christopher Adams, Navy Region Midwest (NRMW); CMDCM David Steo, Transient Personnel Unit (TPU), and CMDCM Robert Tompkins, Training Support Center(TSC), are hitting the books when time permits.
    Walker, who is presently in the general studies program at Columbia College, that he began in March of this year, will enroll in the Southern Illinois University BA degree program. He plans to complete that degree by October 2013.
    His inspiration to go back to school has been that this free education enables him, “To compete against my kids so that they are driven to get good grades.”
    The master chief, from Cleveland, noted that his degree will help him develop courses and curriculum. “And if I change majors I can become more marketable when I retire,” he explained.
    He acknowledges some difficulties. “I attend college on-line so I have to tussle with my kids at times to get the computer; they like YouTube and listening to music.”