For Thomas Saenz, no risk was too great to get the education he wanted.
On May 24, Thomas Saenz graduated from the University of Southern California with a master’s degree in engineering—while he was commanding a top security team in Afghanistan.
At one point, he needed armed guard and an armored car to get to an exam site. A deadly bomb attack near his camp made it impossible for him to attend a class, which was transmitted live at 5 a.m. online. The camp was locked down, but he immediately contacted his professor when he was able to get online.
“I was worried because it was early in the semester and I was afraid it would affect my grade,” Saenz said. “But they were real supportive.”
And it is no wonder: “Not only was he out there living on the edge, but he had to get his homework done,” USC professor Frank Alvidrez said. “”I told my class if Thomas can get his homework done on time then I don’t think there are any excuses for the rest of you all. And he pulled an ‘A.’ He was one of the top 10 percent.”
Although the exact number of others like Saenz who earn their degrees while in combat is not known, there is a commencement ceremony for 100 war-zone graduates from various universities planned in late May in Kandahar.
“They really are multi-tasking in the extreme,” said Bob Ludwig, spokesman for the University of Maryland University College. UMUC has about 30,000 active-duty service members among its students and was one of the first schools to actually send faculty to Iraq to teach troops in 2008. It also has adjunct professors giving classes out of tents in remote outposts of Afghanistan.
Ludwig believes that the coursework, rather than providing extra stress, can actually provide relief from the mental turmoil of war.
“It really is an opportunity to step away from the battlefield and have the sort of the safety of being in a classroom,” he said.
Saenz, a 33-year-old father of two, used the GI Bill to enroll at USC, but midway through his studies the Navy pilot was called to be deployed to Afghanistan. It did not deter him, though. Saenz said he was determined to finish his advanced degree—the second person in his extended family to do so—knowing his 10-year Navy career was ending in June.
An essay he wrote for one of his classes was on WWII veterans going on to lead top companies after returning home. With today’s technology, he sees opportunities for veterans to follow in those footsteps more easily than ever.
“I think we’re in that period again, with the post 9/11 GI Bill and all these kids coming back with their experience overseas,” Saenz said. “Hopefully we can come back and do great things for our country outside of our uniform.”
Photo: Thomas Saenz/AP