NCO selected for Medical Services Corps Published Jan. 6, 2009 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS -- Tech. Sgt. Brandee Thompson is trading her stripes for silver bars. Sergeant Thompson, 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron pharmacy technician, was selected for the Medical Service Corps program in December and reports to Commissioned Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., Tuesday. She'll be commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Air Force based on credit she received for her advanced degree. She pins on her new rank before heading to training. "I came into the Air Force with no college credit," she recalled. "As soon as I completed my (career development courses), I began taking college courses. "I earned my (Community College of the Air Force) degree three years later," Sergeant Thompson said. "It took another year and a half to receive my bachelor's degree in business management. I took a six-month break before starting my master's program and completed it in two years." She now has a master's degree in business administration with a specialization in health care management from the University of Phoenix. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees through in-residence and on line studies. Sergeant Thompson, who's been in the Air Force almost 12 years -- the past two at Keesler -- first learned about the MSC program during her previous assignment at Buckley AFB, Colo. "Buckley was the first base that I worked very closely with MSCs," she explained. "There we had to turn a warehouse into a full-service pharmacy and went from having no patients to serving 55,000 beneficiaries. It seemed that they all showed up at our window at once when we opened. "Afterwards, my commander said I'd make a great MSC -- I had to ask him exactly what an MSC did," Sergeant Thompson continued. "After he explained it to me, I really wanted to enter the program. Basically, MCSs are the business and support backbone of the hospital." She had applied for the program in 2007 and was selected as an alternate. "It's a very competitive field, so no one can really be sure that they are going to get the position when applying," she said. This year, she received her acceptance notification Dec. 2. Sergeant Thompson had to submit a comprehensive package to the selection board, including a personal letter explaining why she wanted to be an MSC and what she could contribute to the corps, as well as her last five enlisted performance reports and several letters of recommendation. She also had to be interviewed by a senior MSC, so Col. David Garrison, medical center administrator for the 81st Medical Group, conducted the interview. The Chicago native recommends enlisted members take advantage of the Air Force's educational opportunities. "I always strive to better myself, but sometimes school was frustrating," Sergeant Thompson admitted. "I sometimes went home after work and had to do homework and asked why I was doing this to myself. But now that I've completed the program, it has definitely paid off and the benefits exceed the effort and cost. Everyone should take advantage of the Air Force's college benefit."