Service members know getting an education can help advance their military career. But adding classes to a schedule already packed with military demands, family plans, and a busy lifestyle can be daunting.
Lagarian Smith was in the same boat when he started looking for colleges. He’d already served one enlistment in the Marine Corps and was starting to think about life after service. He figured he would get his degree and then get out after his second enlistment. After choosing National University, he not only decided he would stay in the Corps, he made NU an important part of his career plan.
When Smith, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, joined the Marines in 2002, he became a radio operator, but that MOS wasn’t for him. By 2007, he had switched military specialties, returned home from Iraq, and found a career field he loved: Information Technology.
“I fell in love with configuring, installing, and maintaining things; watching my work power communications throughout a camp or a unit,” Smith told We Are The Mighty. “Being a tech controller, we touched all counterpoints within the network segment, so it wasn’t just configuring a satellite, it was also configuring routers, telephonic devices, checking the path all the way to the satellite to see how dirty or clean it was, and then cleaning it up to get better data flowing back and forth. And that was awesome. So, I decided I wanted to be a project manager.”
This new career trajectory meant he needed a bachelor’s degree, which worked out because getting a degree was always part of his plan. In fact, it was what led him to military service in the first place. His aunt was the only person in his extended family who had a degree, and he wanted to lead his generation of the family by getting his.
When Smith got back from Iraq, he began looking at schools. He wanted to complete his degree as soon as possible, but many schools out there just didn’t have the flexibility or fast pace he was looking for. National University’s course format caught his eye.
“Before I chose National University, I was looking at these schools with nine-week and 12-week classes every semester. I thought to myself, ‘Man, this is going to take forever.’ I’m a fast learner and love a fast-paced environment, so four-week courses were definitely enticing.”
But in 2007, the United States was still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so the demands on Marines were high. His four-week courses allowed him to take any and all the spare time he could to devote to his schoolwork. It would ultimately take seven years for him to finish his bachelor’s degree in IT Project Management, and in that time, he and his wife would have two children. Despite his intense schedule, National University helped him stay on track and complete his program.
“They had advisors on base at both Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms, which was very, very useful for me,” Smith recalled. “They were integral in ensuring that I was enrolled in the classes I needed to be. They looked out for me so I could better plan around my life as a Marine. They were instrumental. I had great instructors as well, some that would give me guidance on things to read, things to look into.”
By the time he graduated, the Marine who intended to be in for eight years had instead been serving for 12 and had become a Gunnery Sergeant. He was even teaching IT classes for the Marine Corps. After finishing his last tour in Afghanistan in 2016, he decided to get his master’s degree.
“That was a juggle, man,” Smith said. “To this day, I remember how busy I was being an instructor, grading assignments, being a mentor to the Marines I was teaching. I would use every second of downtime I had at work and at home with my two children.”
He was already what he calls “ninja sweet” at online education, so why not? He chose the field he loved and pursued a master’s in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance. Most importantly, the Marine Corps’ tuition assistance paid for it all.
Smith explained, “To ensure I maxed out my benefits while serving on active duty and positioning myself for post-military the best way I could, it made sense to earn a master’s degree, to complement the bachelor’s, to complement the skill set I learned in the Marine Corps. It was a no-brainer; get your master’s, you got time.”
Smith’s official retirement ceremony was in July 2023. He left the military as a Master Gunnery Sergeant, an E-9, the highest enlisted pay grade. He knows it was his commitment to education that made the difference in his career.
“As enlisted personnel, we don’t come with degrees,” Smith said. “The first thing you can do to set yourself apart is earn a degree. At every step of my promotions, a lot of what separated me from my peers was having those degrees. From E-6 to E-7, I earned my associate’s from National University. From E-7 to E-8, I earned my bachelor’s. And then from E-8 to E-9, I earned my master’s. These degrees have absolutely helped me set myself apart.”
Smith is currently completing a SkillBridge internship in his chosen career field, working for Google until he officially retires in December 2023. He also has job offers from four top defense firms. He is proud to say he has zero student debt and he has passed his unused GI Bill benefits onto his family.
“So, to every service member thinking about it, stop thinking. Just do it,” Smith said.“Whether you stay in the service or leave, you’re still going to make yourself stand out, all because you earned and improved your education. If you stay in, it’ll help with promotion. If you get out, you’ll have a degree that’s paid for.”
“And if you want to get it done right, expediently, and without any loss in your quality of education, then you definitely want to consider National University.”