10-01-2026, 01:07 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-01-2026, 01:12 PM by Phracker Jacks.)
I have been looking more closely at TESU's Military Technology Leadership programs and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has actually completed either the AAS or BS, especially military members from different MOSs.
The BS in Military Technology Leadership was actually the initial/default bachelor's evaluation TESU gave me when they first evaluated my JST and transcripts. That is what originally got me looking into the program.
Once I saw the evaluation, it made sense. My record is a mix of 25S SATCOM/electronics, networking/IT, PME, leadership, management, instructor training, and other military credit. MTL gives TESU a lot of flexibility to use credit that does not necessarily fit neatly into a conventional major.
I will not complete the BS MTL myself, but researching it made me think the program, and especially the AAS MTL, deserves more attention as an option for Soldiers.
Why the AAS MTL interests me
One reason the AAS interests me is that the Army does not have a service community-college system comparable to the Air Force's CCAF or the Navy's USNCC.
We get a JST showing our military training and ACE credit recommendations, but there is very little practical guidance on what to actually do with it or how those credits can be turned into a degree.
There are now a few more military articulation agreements and MOS-specific transfer pathways, which is an improvement. But from what I have seen, many are still pretty limited and are not dramatically better than some of the evaluations I received years ago.
At least with some of the newer agreements, a Soldier may be able to identify three or four courses ahead of time and know, "this military school should equal this college course." That is better than having no idea until after an evaluation, but there is still a large gap between having a JST full of ACE recommendations and having a clear academic pathway that shows a Soldier how to use them.
And for most traditional degree programs, a large portion of those JST credits may still never apply to an actual degree requirement. They may become free electives, duplicate credit, or simply go unused because there is no place for them in that particular program.
That is why something like the AAS Military Technology Leadership interests me. It can potentially provide a more flexible degree structure for a Soldier whose JST contains technical training, PME, leadership, and other credits that do not fit neatly into a traditional major.
Looking back, something like that would have been very useful to me as a junior enlisted Soldier.
I had my military credit evaluated by several schools over the years. Before completing ALC, I never really saw my JST fill an actual degree requirement.
Usually the best result was one or two general/free electives. Most of the military credit either sat unused or went somewhere that did not move the degree forward very much.
That was frustrating because there was substantial training behind those credits. My original 25S AIT included a large amount of electronics and SATCOM training, but the older ACE recommendations were fragmented into 1-SH and 3-SH pieces that did not fit cleanly into most traditional degree plans.
Things improved somewhat after ALC because the recommendations were in more usable 3-SH blocks. Even then, one of the few credits I saw sometimes fill a real degree requirement was the 3-SH Communications recommendation, which could be used for an oral-communication or speech requirement.
TESU was different because I could actually see much more of the military training translated into recognizable electronics, SATCOM, networking, leadership, management, communication, and other college-course equivalencies.
That does not mean every JST recommendation became useful credit. There are still duplicates, replacement credits, and some recommendations that do not appear as separate TESU equivalencies.
But compared with my earlier evaluations, TESU made much more meaningful use of the military training.
For someone who is hesitant about starting college, I think an associate degree can create a much more manageable first target:
JST/military training -> evaluation -> remaining Gen Eds -> associate degree -> bachelor's
Completing the AAS MTL also would not mean someone has to continue into the BS MTL.
Once they have that first degree and understand how their JST was evaluated, they can compare other bachelor's programs and choose what best fits their goals.
In my own case, I have been comparing:
Technical Studies is particularly attractive for me because it can make good use of my electronics, SATCOM, IT, and other technical credit.
Professional Studies is also interesting because it can combine more of the technical credit with PME, leadership, and management.
So I do not look at the original BS MTL evaluation as locking me into that degree. It was more of a starting point that showed me how TESU viewed the military training.
What I would really like to see are more real TESU evaluations from other MOSs:
Someone may look at their JST, see a lot of strange 1-, 2-, and 3-credit recommendations, and have no idea whether any of it is actually useful.
A real evaluation can turn that into something much easier to understand.
And if the AAS MTL gives an Army Soldier a realistic first milestone using training they have already completed, I think that alone makes it worth discussing.
I will put my own 25S JST -> TESU equivalencies in a follow-up post as one actual example.
As a follow-up, here is my own 25S example showing how TESU translated Army schools and JST/ACE recommendations into college-course equivalencies.
I am listing these by Army school/training rather than where TESU happens to place them inside a particular degree.
There are duplicate and replacement credits from later PME, so these should not all simply be added together as unique credits. The point is to show how the military training was evaluated.
Basic Combat Training -> 6 SH
• PEA-1999 Special Topics in Physical Education -> 2 SH
• MSC-1310 Marksmanship -> 1 SH
• MSC-2010 Introduction to Military Science -> 2 SH
• HEA-1950 First Aid -> 1 SH
25S SATCOM AIT – Common Core -> 13 SH
• ELE-2110 DC Circuits -> 3 SH
• ELE-2120 AC Circuits -> 1 SH
• ELD-2010 Introduction to Digital Electronics -> 1 SH
• ELT-2010 Introduction to Solid State Devices -> 1 SH
• ELC-2010 Electronic Communication Systems -> 1 SH
• ELT-1020 Basic Electronics Lab -> 3 SH
• ELM-1710 Diagnosis & Troubleshooting -> 3 SH
This is a good example of the problem I ran into with some of the older ACE recommendations.
The training was heavily electronics-based, but several recommendations were only 1 SH. They are legitimate credits, but they are difficult to fit into a conventional electronics degree where most courses are 3 SH.
25S SATCOM AIT – TACT-1 -> 4 SH
• ELC-2020 Introduction to Satellite Communications -> 3 SH
• MSC-1410 Introduction to Tactics & Field Operations -> 1 SH
That puts my original 25S AIT at approximately 17 SH of ACE-recommended credit.
Basic Training added another 6 SH, so Basic + AIT was approximately 23 SH.
Airborne School -> 3 SH
• PEA-1999 Special Topics in Physical Education -> 3 SH
That brought Basic + AIT + Airborne during that early training period to approximately 26 SH.
Early NCO/PME
Another interesting part of my TESU record is that some of the credit is more than simply copying the wording of an ACE recommendation.
TESU also awarded some of its own assessment credit for military training during the period when I completed older PME.
Around my WLC completion, TESU awarded assessment credit including:
• HRM-3150 Leadership -> 3 SH
• MAN-2030 Office Management -> 3 SH
• COP-1999 Internship/Co-Op Education -> 3 SH
The COP-1999 Internship/Co-Op credit is particularly interesting because it is not simply a normal JST/ACE recommendation. It came through TESU's own assessment of the military training during that period.
Other PME periods also resulted in TESU credit in areas such as supervision, management, and military leadership.
25S Advanced Leader Course -> 15 SH
• COM-1080 Fundamentals of Speech -> 3 SH
• HRM-2150 Leadership -> 3 SH
• CAP-2160 Introduction to Computer Network Systems -> 3 SH
• LDR-3050 Foundations of Leadership -> 3 SH
• ELC-4020 Satellite Communications -> 3 SH
This is a good contrast with my older AIT because everything came through in standard 3-SH blocks.
There is also an interesting example with COM-1080.
The ACE/JST recommendation from ALC says Communications -> 3 SH. It does not specifically recommend Oral Communication or Public Speaking.
TESU evaluated that as COM-1080 Fundamentals of Speech, which made the credit much more useful because it could satisfy an oral-communication requirement.
That is one example of why I think an actual school evaluation can sometimes be much more useful than simply looking at the title of the ACE recommendation on the JST.
Common Faculty Development – Instructor Course
My JST has two ACE recommendations from the instructor course:
• Adult Learning Theory and Practice -> 3 SH upper level
• Organizational Leadership -> 1 SH lower level
On my TESU evaluation, I can document:
• EDU-3740 Adult Learning Theory I -> 3 SH
I do not see a separate TESU equivalency listed for the 1-SH Organizational Leadership recommendation.
So all I can say from the evaluation is that TESU awarded the 3-SH Adult Learning Theory course. I do not know how TESU handled the separate 1-SH Organizational Leadership recommendation.
Current 25S ACE recommendation
For comparison, the current ACE recommendation for 25S is structured quite differently from the version under which I completed AIT.
The current recommendation includes:
• Decision-Making -> 3 SH
• Satellite Communications Systems -> 3 SH
• Networking Fundamentals -> 3 SH
• DC/AC Circuit Fundamentals -> 3 SH
• DC/AC Circuit Fundamentals Laboratory -> 1 SH
• Electronic Communications Systems Troubleshooting -> 3 SH
• Communications Systems Maintenance -> 3 SH
• Satellite Communications Systems Troubleshooting -> 3 SH
That is 22 SH of lower-division ACE recommendations.
Most of those are now normal 3-SH blocks rather than the collection of 1-SH electronics recommendations I received.
I have not seen an actual TESU evaluation from a newer 25S under this current ACE recommendation, so I would not assume TESU will award those exact course equivalencies.
That is actually one of the examples I would really like to find.
Something as simple as:
MOS / military school -> JST/ACE recommendation -> actual TESU equivalency
would be useful.
If anyone has a more recent TESU evaluation from 25S or another MOS, I would be interested in seeing how TESU actually translated the current ACE recommendations.
The BS in Military Technology Leadership was actually the initial/default bachelor's evaluation TESU gave me when they first evaluated my JST and transcripts. That is what originally got me looking into the program.
Once I saw the evaluation, it made sense. My record is a mix of 25S SATCOM/electronics, networking/IT, PME, leadership, management, instructor training, and other military credit. MTL gives TESU a lot of flexibility to use credit that does not necessarily fit neatly into a conventional major.
I will not complete the BS MTL myself, but researching it made me think the program, and especially the AAS MTL, deserves more attention as an option for Soldiers.
Why the AAS MTL interests me
One reason the AAS interests me is that the Army does not have a service community-college system comparable to the Air Force's CCAF or the Navy's USNCC.
We get a JST showing our military training and ACE credit recommendations, but there is very little practical guidance on what to actually do with it or how those credits can be turned into a degree.
There are now a few more military articulation agreements and MOS-specific transfer pathways, which is an improvement. But from what I have seen, many are still pretty limited and are not dramatically better than some of the evaluations I received years ago.
At least with some of the newer agreements, a Soldier may be able to identify three or four courses ahead of time and know, "this military school should equal this college course." That is better than having no idea until after an evaluation, but there is still a large gap between having a JST full of ACE recommendations and having a clear academic pathway that shows a Soldier how to use them.
And for most traditional degree programs, a large portion of those JST credits may still never apply to an actual degree requirement. They may become free electives, duplicate credit, or simply go unused because there is no place for them in that particular program.
That is why something like the AAS Military Technology Leadership interests me. It can potentially provide a more flexible degree structure for a Soldier whose JST contains technical training, PME, leadership, and other credits that do not fit neatly into a traditional major.
Looking back, something like that would have been very useful to me as a junior enlisted Soldier.
I had my military credit evaluated by several schools over the years. Before completing ALC, I never really saw my JST fill an actual degree requirement.
Usually the best result was one or two general/free electives. Most of the military credit either sat unused or went somewhere that did not move the degree forward very much.
That was frustrating because there was substantial training behind those credits. My original 25S AIT included a large amount of electronics and SATCOM training, but the older ACE recommendations were fragmented into 1-SH and 3-SH pieces that did not fit cleanly into most traditional degree plans.
Things improved somewhat after ALC because the recommendations were in more usable 3-SH blocks. Even then, one of the few credits I saw sometimes fill a real degree requirement was the 3-SH Communications recommendation, which could be used for an oral-communication or speech requirement.
TESU was different because I could actually see much more of the military training translated into recognizable electronics, SATCOM, networking, leadership, management, communication, and other college-course equivalencies.
That does not mean every JST recommendation became useful credit. There are still duplicates, replacement credits, and some recommendations that do not appear as separate TESU equivalencies.
But compared with my earlier evaluations, TESU made much more meaningful use of the military training.
For someone who is hesitant about starting college, I think an associate degree can create a much more manageable first target:
JST/military training -> evaluation -> remaining Gen Eds -> associate degree -> bachelor's
Completing the AAS MTL also would not mean someone has to continue into the BS MTL.
Once they have that first degree and understand how their JST was evaluated, they can compare other bachelor's programs and choose what best fits their goals.
In my own case, I have been comparing:
- BS Technical Studies
- BS Professional Studies
- BS Organizational Leadership
- BSBA with General Management / Computer Information Systems
- BS Information Technology
Technical Studies is particularly attractive for me because it can make good use of my electronics, SATCOM, IT, and other technical credit.
Professional Studies is also interesting because it can combine more of the technical credit with PME, leadership, and management.
So I do not look at the original BS MTL evaluation as locking me into that degree. It was more of a starting point that showed me how TESU viewed the military training.
What I would really like to see are more real TESU evaluations from other MOSs:
- MOS/rating
- Major military schools completed
- Approximate JST/ACE credit
- Actual TESU equivalencies
- Initial degree TESU evaluated
- Whether you stayed with that degree or switched
- How MOS/AIT and PME credits were used
- Whether an associate degree made sense first
- What bachelor's route you eventually chose
Someone may look at their JST, see a lot of strange 1-, 2-, and 3-credit recommendations, and have no idea whether any of it is actually useful.
A real evaluation can turn that into something much easier to understand.
And if the AAS MTL gives an Army Soldier a realistic first milestone using training they have already completed, I think that alone makes it worth discussing.
I will put my own 25S JST -> TESU equivalencies in a follow-up post as one actual example.
As a follow-up, here is my own 25S example showing how TESU translated Army schools and JST/ACE recommendations into college-course equivalencies.
I am listing these by Army school/training rather than where TESU happens to place them inside a particular degree.
There are duplicate and replacement credits from later PME, so these should not all simply be added together as unique credits. The point is to show how the military training was evaluated.
Basic Combat Training -> 6 SH
• PEA-1999 Special Topics in Physical Education -> 2 SH
• MSC-1310 Marksmanship -> 1 SH
• MSC-2010 Introduction to Military Science -> 2 SH
• HEA-1950 First Aid -> 1 SH
25S SATCOM AIT – Common Core -> 13 SH
• ELE-2110 DC Circuits -> 3 SH
• ELE-2120 AC Circuits -> 1 SH
• ELD-2010 Introduction to Digital Electronics -> 1 SH
• ELT-2010 Introduction to Solid State Devices -> 1 SH
• ELC-2010 Electronic Communication Systems -> 1 SH
• ELT-1020 Basic Electronics Lab -> 3 SH
• ELM-1710 Diagnosis & Troubleshooting -> 3 SH
This is a good example of the problem I ran into with some of the older ACE recommendations.
The training was heavily electronics-based, but several recommendations were only 1 SH. They are legitimate credits, but they are difficult to fit into a conventional electronics degree where most courses are 3 SH.
25S SATCOM AIT – TACT-1 -> 4 SH
• ELC-2020 Introduction to Satellite Communications -> 3 SH
• MSC-1410 Introduction to Tactics & Field Operations -> 1 SH
That puts my original 25S AIT at approximately 17 SH of ACE-recommended credit.
Basic Training added another 6 SH, so Basic + AIT was approximately 23 SH.
Airborne School -> 3 SH
• PEA-1999 Special Topics in Physical Education -> 3 SH
That brought Basic + AIT + Airborne during that early training period to approximately 26 SH.
Early NCO/PME
Another interesting part of my TESU record is that some of the credit is more than simply copying the wording of an ACE recommendation.
TESU also awarded some of its own assessment credit for military training during the period when I completed older PME.
Around my WLC completion, TESU awarded assessment credit including:
• HRM-3150 Leadership -> 3 SH
• MAN-2030 Office Management -> 3 SH
• COP-1999 Internship/Co-Op Education -> 3 SH
The COP-1999 Internship/Co-Op credit is particularly interesting because it is not simply a normal JST/ACE recommendation. It came through TESU's own assessment of the military training during that period.
Other PME periods also resulted in TESU credit in areas such as supervision, management, and military leadership.
25S Advanced Leader Course -> 15 SH
• COM-1080 Fundamentals of Speech -> 3 SH
• HRM-2150 Leadership -> 3 SH
• CAP-2160 Introduction to Computer Network Systems -> 3 SH
• LDR-3050 Foundations of Leadership -> 3 SH
• ELC-4020 Satellite Communications -> 3 SH
This is a good contrast with my older AIT because everything came through in standard 3-SH blocks.
There is also an interesting example with COM-1080.
The ACE/JST recommendation from ALC says Communications -> 3 SH. It does not specifically recommend Oral Communication or Public Speaking.
TESU evaluated that as COM-1080 Fundamentals of Speech, which made the credit much more useful because it could satisfy an oral-communication requirement.
That is one example of why I think an actual school evaluation can sometimes be much more useful than simply looking at the title of the ACE recommendation on the JST.
Common Faculty Development – Instructor Course
My JST has two ACE recommendations from the instructor course:
• Adult Learning Theory and Practice -> 3 SH upper level
• Organizational Leadership -> 1 SH lower level
On my TESU evaluation, I can document:
• EDU-3740 Adult Learning Theory I -> 3 SH
I do not see a separate TESU equivalency listed for the 1-SH Organizational Leadership recommendation.
So all I can say from the evaluation is that TESU awarded the 3-SH Adult Learning Theory course. I do not know how TESU handled the separate 1-SH Organizational Leadership recommendation.
Current 25S ACE recommendation
For comparison, the current ACE recommendation for 25S is structured quite differently from the version under which I completed AIT.
The current recommendation includes:
• Decision-Making -> 3 SH
• Satellite Communications Systems -> 3 SH
• Networking Fundamentals -> 3 SH
• DC/AC Circuit Fundamentals -> 3 SH
• DC/AC Circuit Fundamentals Laboratory -> 1 SH
• Electronic Communications Systems Troubleshooting -> 3 SH
• Communications Systems Maintenance -> 3 SH
• Satellite Communications Systems Troubleshooting -> 3 SH
That is 22 SH of lower-division ACE recommendations.
Most of those are now normal 3-SH blocks rather than the collection of 1-SH electronics recommendations I received.
I have not seen an actual TESU evaluation from a newer 25S under this current ACE recommendation, so I would not assume TESU will award those exact course equivalencies.
That is actually one of the examples I would really like to find.
Something as simple as:
MOS / military school -> JST/ACE recommendation -> actual TESU equivalency
would be useful.
If anyone has a more recent TESU evaluation from 25S or another MOS, I would be interested in seeing how TESU actually translated the current ACE recommendations.
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