Mission Forward

SERVE Serving Those Who

Logan’s Commitment to Military Students

After serving in the United States Air Force as a nuclear weapons technician for more than six years, Dominique Roberts was gifted a 3D printer that inspired them to pursue a career creating prosthetics for disabled veterans.

“I realized this was an area where I could affect change and have an immediate and measurable impact in peoples’ lives,” Dominique said. “And it’s the least I could do to give back to the community that I served with and take care of them as some of them have taken care of me.”

With the goal of earning a master’s degree in prosthetics and orthotics, Dominique enrolled in several bachelor’s degree programs in electrical engineering, but complications due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) forced them to drop out of each one. Then they discovered Logan.

“I realized that a more logical route to working toward my master’s degree was through biology, adding related coding and engineering certifications as needed,” Dominique said. “I picked Logan’s Bachelor of Science in Human Biology program for several reasons, including positive reviews from multiple sources, small class sizes and the ability to attend classes fully online.”

Since beginning the program in 2021, Dominique has found a supportive and caring community.

“The high faculty-student ratio ensures students’ needs are met regardless of their unique situations,” Dominique said. “The level of individual care that is provided is unmatched by any other institution I’ve attended.”

According to Lulu Brinkley, MBA, director of admissions at Logan, the myriad resources and programs the university offers, including academic advising and coaching, counseling, care and well-being services, career training, and involvement opportunities, gives the 50 active-duty service members and veterans currently pursuing degrees at Logan what they need to succeed.

“Whether you are online or on campus, our first priority is supporting our students,” Lulu said. “There are few schools that offer as many touchpoints as we do to ensure students feel connected to the Logan community and achieve academic success.”

MilitarySupportiveColleges.com recently identified Logan as one of the most militarysupportive colleges in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Northeast District, which includes 17 states and Washington, D.C. The site, which helps active-duty service members, veterans and their families access and use military education benefits to earn their degrees, includes schools that not only accept these benefits but also understand how to assist students in making the most of them.

To offer additional funding for veterans’ education, Logan also participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program. The program is a partnership between schools and the VA that can help veterans pay for out-of-state, private school or graduate school tuition and fees that the GI Bill does not cover. Additionally, service members applying to Logan benefit from waived application fees.

“The VA and Logan have worked well together to ensure I am able to obtain my education without complication or added stresses,” said Jacob Schaake, a trimester 10 DC student who served as a staff sergeant in the Air Force for six years.

The award-winning online bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate program that Logan’s College of Health Sciences (COHS) offers also allow students who are serving in the military to further their education on their own time,

Dominique Roberts Jacob Schaake Dr. Jason Napuli

regardless of the country, continent or time zone they are in.

“Synchronous classes are often not conducive to the demanding schedules of active-duty service members, many of whom are scattered across the globe,” Lulu said. “Those enrolled in our online degree programs can take classes, do homework and complete exams wherever and whenever they need to.”

Chelsea Reinoehl, who was a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years, is pursuing Logan’s Master of Science in Strength and Conditioning (MS-SC) degree. The program’s accelerated format that enables students to complete it in just one year played an important role in her decision to attend Logan. After graduating in summer 2023, she hopes to open her own weightlifting studio.

“There are not many MS-SC programs to choose from, so I feel fortunate that Logan’s provides the flexibility I need,” Chelsea said. “I am looking forward to instilling my joy and passion for weightlifting into a new generation of athletes.”

Service members and veterans in Logan’s DC program also appreciate opportunities to give back to the military community. Since 2005, Logan has been an academic affiliate of the VA St. Louis Health Care System (VASTLHCS), a full-service health care facility serving veterans and their families in East Central Missouri and Southwestern Illinois. Additionally, in 2014, Logan became one of only four chiropractic schools in the U.S. selected to participate in a first-of-its-kind chiropractic residency program with the VA. Funded through the VA Office of Academic Affiliations, the one-year program trains DCs to work in the VA, other integrated hospital positions and academia.

“Offering chiropractic care to veterans is just one way we can thank them for their service and dedication,” said Jason Napuli, DC, MBA, VASTLHCS integrated chiropractic clinical practice residency program director and member of the Air Force Reserve. “Working with these patients who usually have a complex set of comorbidities in addition to chronic musculoskeletal pain is an educational opportunity for our students that is second to none; however, it is also an honor to help improve their quality of life with conservative care.”

According to the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, 65 percent of veterans suffer from chronic pain, and they are two times more likely than nonveterans to die from accidental overdoses of highly addictive painkillers. As DCs continue to become increasingly vital members of integrated care teams at VA facilities, they are uniquely positioned to provide safe, effective, drug-free care to service members.

“Chiropractic offers a solution to help people live a healthy lifestyle without being dependent on medications,” Jacob said. “I want to relieve pain and teach people how to take care of themselves naturally. I also hope to be able to help my patients become better versions of themselves and discover that their potential is greater than they ever thought.”