MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- The MCB Hawaii Distance Learning Center (DLC) provides active duty, family members, retired military, Department of Defense employees, and Marine Corps Community Services employees with free educational and training courses in a quiet, multimedia learning environment.
The Learning Resource Center includes 39 workstations that offer patrons the ability to access MarineNet and the Marine Corps Institute and its selected Marine Corps courses.
Other opportunities to further education and personal growth lie with information technology courses, as well as a wide variety of business classes to choose from.
"A student can save a tremendous amount of money coming in, especially on the IT courses," said Hollen Fuller, LRC monitor, MCB Hawaii DLC. "You can spend $8 to $12,000 getting your Microsoft or Cisco certification, and it is free here."
"This center allows Marines like me, who don't own a computer, a resource to accomplish military and personal education goals," said Lance Cpl. John Spencer of the Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy at MCB Hawaii.
Marines may enroll in Marine Corps courses such as Terrorism Awareness, Marksmanship and Land Navigation. Also available are nine Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center courses that offer topics such as "Introduction to Intelligence," "Threat Analysis" and "Intelligence Disciplines."
"The DLC offers me the opportunity to receive college-level training for free, and at my own pace," said Spencer. "This is truly a great resource for service members and family members at K-Bay to exploit."
Marines participating in distance learning programs may use the workstations, as necessary, to complete their MCI training. However, if patrons are using the DLC for personal development or functional training, not associated with a specific MCDLC-sponsored program, they will need to yield to MCDLC users.
"Anyone that needs to use a workstation can, as long as it is not affecting the sponsored programs," said Fuller. "Also, remember respect. People are training and studying, so give others a break when you are in there, for example, cellular phones and talking. It is a learning environment not an Internet or porn cafe. That being said, we are on the Marine LAN, so if you don't get your email at work, you won't get it here either."
The DLC also offers the opportunity to reserve its room for special, non-frequent Marine training programs that cannot find a location to hold it.
"There are some special rules and guidelines to follow in order to host an event here, so please contact us at the center," said Fuller. "We will do what we can to accommodate whatever your needs are, business or personal. Just let us know how we can better serve you at MCDLC."
The LRC is open for a total of 60 hours a week for use. The current times and hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
"The times for opening and closing the DLC are subject to change, due to usage," said Fuller. "If there are better times that you want to come in, let us know. Maybe we can do something about that."
The DLC is located in Bldg. 221, Room 108, across from the parade field and base movie theater.
For more information about the MCB Hawaii Distance Learning Center, contact Mr. Adam Wazzan or Mr. Hollen Fuller at (808) 257-8724.