Service members interested in raising their general technical, or GT, scores, or their Test for Adult Basic Education scores, can attend a three-week, at your own pace, program known as the Military Academic Skills Program. 

This free program is offered to service members with GT score less than 99 or TABE score less than 10.2, according to Alvin M. Abraham, an education clerk at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Distance Learning Center.

Commanding officers can also refer service members to the program to improve work performance, added Abraham. Family members must be at least 18 years old to attend the program in preparation for college entrance exams.

The program is designed to improve comprehension of reading, writing, and mathematics, the most basic skills required to be a member of the military, explained Abraham. 

Prior to participating in the program, service members will receive a TABE at the education center’s test center.

 Administrators conduct the test every Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. Service members should call 24 hours in advance to take the test.

After the TABE, education specialists will gauge where a service member is academically in order to tailor the program to meet the service member’s needs.

Service members must visit the DLC to register for an account then visit www.petersons.com/OASCMARINES to take pre-tests in math and verbal areas. After the tests, a series of lessons that target strengths and weaknesses in the subjects.

Service members have 380 days to complete the course at their own pace, explained Abraham.

 “Most of the Marines we get taking the test are those serving their third and fourth terms,” said Abraham. “Most times, it’s not that they don’t know the material, but they haven’t had a reason to use it since high school.”

For more information about the program, contact the education office at 858-577-1801.