News Releases

Married couple earn master's degrees

Thursday, January 14, 2010

BY LAURA WOLFE

In the 2008-2009 academic year, the University of Kansas School of Business, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, began a new program for Army majors and major-eligible captains. This program was designed for those who want to pursue a master of science degree with a concentration in supply chain management and logistics. The program had 11 graduates in May, and this year the program has grown to 25 officers enrolled in the joint program.

Two of this year's master's students are husband and wife Brian Neill and Tracie Henry-Neill. The couple met while attending the Combined Logistics Captains Career Course at Fort Lee, Virginia, in 2003. "We met at a Halloween party in 2003 and were engaged by Martin Luther King, Jr. day in January, 2004," said Henry-Neill. They were married by May of that same year.

Neill and Henry-Neill are both Army logistics officers. In order to move up within the military, they will need further education in the form of a master's degree.

"This is a very demanding program," said Greg Freix, School of Business Director of Master of Science in Business Supply Chain Management & Logistics. "These people are basically going to school full-time in their jobs for the military, and then also part-time."

Neill and Henry-Neill chose to participate in the KU program because they believe it will be beneficial in their military careers and later in their civilian lives.

"I was interested in the Supply Chain Management program because it was being offered by the University of Kansas, and it was tailored to coincide with our program at Fort Leavenworth," Henry-Neill said. "I also wanted to pursue a master's degree that was related to the logistics field, since I believe that my next career after the military will be in logistics."

The couple agrees that the hardest transition for them has been doing homework again. Despite the program's demanding nature, both have said it will be worth the hard work. And it doesn't hurt to have each other to lean on for some added support.

"Sometimes the extra work of getting my master's degree on top of my other school work from the Army becomes overwhelming," Neill said. "But having my wife in the program actually helps focus me and lessens the general insanity of normal life."

The School of Business has worked to tailor the master's program to the needs of its students. "The professors are very good, and they understand the fact that we are non-traditional learners and students," Henry-Neill said. "They also have a great appreciation for the fact that during the evening classes we need a little more assistance simply because we have been in other classes all day."

Added Neill, "I believe that the professors selected to instruct our classes are some of the best from the Business department, and I am confident that the instruction we are receiving will be pertinent to the civilian world."

Both Neill and Henry-Neill have had three combat tours in Iraq. As a married couple, they aren't always deployed to the same place, but often at the same time. "We have been fortunate to have been deployed at the same time over our last two deployments," said Henry-Neill.

Their first deployment as a married couple, Neill and Henry-Neill were on different bases in different locations in Iraq and were only able to see each other about once a month. "The second deployment, the 15 month deployment, we were on the same bases and within the same unit so we were able to see each other every day," said Neill.

Henry-Neill has earned three bronze stars, a Meritorious Service Medal for her garrison time while serving with the 3rd Infantry Division, two Army Commendation Medals and four Army Achievement Medals. She has also received the Iraqi Campaign Medal with two stars, and the Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary Medals, ...