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CMU Off-Campus Success Stories
Courtney Buck, current CMU Master of Science
in Administration degree student, realized that a nine-to-five life just
wasn’t for him. Perhaps his childhood ambition of becoming a rock star
should have been his first clue.
Before joining the U.S. Army in 2004, Buck, 29, originally from St. Louis,
Mo., held the position of assistant marketing director at the University of
Missouri, and although he loved the position, he was in need of an
“adrenaline rush,” which he found when he joined the military. Now a
sergeant, and located at Fort Riley in Kansas, Buck is helping the next
group of soldiers become equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to
complete their mission in Afghanistan.
While in Afghanistan, Buck held the position of Explosive Ordinance Disposal
Technician. He said he draws inspiration from the lives of the people he has
saved by disarming bombs.
“I was more or less a member of the military bomb squad,” Buck said. “Every
time I disarm a bomb, I know I just saved someone’s life or kept them from
being injured and that’s a wonderful feeling,” Buck said.
While Buck considered Fort Riley as his CMU center, he took online courses
while stationed in Afghanistan. Being able to take classes online was one of
the reasons he chose CMU. He said he also chose the program because of the
services provided by CMU.
“The online learning that CMU offers is very user-friendly and the
professors understand the situations that we run into while overseas,” Buck
said.
Buck will be finishing his MSA degree in May of 2008 and is confident his
degree will help in his future, as he is half way through the secret service
and FBI hiring process. He feels his MSA degree will give him the ‘edge’
over the other applicants.
“Knowledge is power…it’s cliché but it’s the truth,” Buck said. He also said
that CMU had a large part in instilling leadership qualities in him. “I’m
always finding myself in leadership positions and the skills I learned at
CMU mean a lot to me,” Buck said.
Written by
Amber Crago, CMU Journalism Intern
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