Second Lieutenant Pavel Buechter was commissioned in 2023 and is currently stationed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California, where he is a mission integrator with the 2nd Range Operations Squadron, where he manages and integrates government and commercial launches at Vandenberg.

In this role, he works with contractors like Northrop Grumman, Firefly Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Stratolaunch and SpaceX.

He supports the launch service providers by making sure they abide by range policy and procedures, along with managing their use of government launch infrastructure.

Buechter represents the range and the Space Force to mission partners, and helps establish the path to mission success. His current focus is managing the restoration and revitalization of a launch complex to support its first mission in more than 15 years.

Buechter, who is cross trained as a Range Operations Commander (ROC), has overseen the launch of various commercial SpaceX launch missions.

In 2023, Buechter was awarded the U.S. Space Force quarterly award for commitment. He has also been awarded various team awards for mission integration and nuclear deterrence.

He said his favorite part of the job is getting to be a part of the team that, “launches rockets and puts satellites into orbit to support the warfighter downrange.”

Buechter said he chose UofL because of the fully online master’s degree and how well UofL supports its military-connected students. The program is also offered at a reduced tuition rate, which matches the military tuition assistance rate.

Buechter said his degree will help him better oversee Space Force projects and make him a better leader.

Out of the 1,800 institutions that participated in the Military Friendly survey, UofL was one of only 37 Carnegie Research 1 institutions to earn a “Designated” status, and the only institution in the Atlantic Coast Conference to earn “Gold” status.

For the past 11 years, UofL has achieved designated status; however this is the first time UofL has received “Gold” status, identifying “leading practices, outcomes and effective programs.” 

Institutions are evaluated in six weighted areas: Academic Policies & Compliance, Graduation & Career Outcomes, Culture & Commitment, Military Student Support & Retention, Admissions and Orientation and Financial Aid & Loan Repayment. 

“Earning this designation is validation of our ongoing work to make UofL a great place to learn. I want to recognize the hard work and contributions of the many people across campus who made this designation possible,” said UofL Interim President Lori Gonzalez. “While we celebrate this achievement, we remain committed to continually improving how we serve this important population.”

Examples of UofL’s commitment to serving this population include the key functions provided by the Office of Veteran and Military Student Services, creation of a Military-Connected Student Advisory Council to build on efficiencies and to share best practices in serving this population, working with veterans to reactivate the Student Veterans Association chapter, creating a virtual military-connected student resource website and offering waived undergraduate and graduate application fees, and offering priority course registration to this population.

This year, UofL is creating a Center for Military-Connected Students. It will enable the institution to increase military-connected student persistence and success rates, enhance our ability to attract military-connected students and enhance the experience of this student demographic.

The Center will include office space for fulltime staff, flexible office space for support staff from student services areas, a meeting space, a military-connected student lounge and kitchen and a military-connected student study space. Renovation of Honors House is expected to begin in Fall 2022 and to last through Summer 2023.

Captain Nathan Hanners completed the in the fall, and expressed enthusiasm for returning to his position at John Carroll University in Cleveland, now better equipped to engage with students.

“I was unleashed to work with freshmen students, and although I knew all the material to teach classes, I am excited to get all these great, new ideas to take back to our programs this year,” he said.

MEC is designed to educate the Army ROTC instructors about higher education policies and practices, including teaching and instructional strategies, facilitation of learning, curriculum development, and organizational analysis.

UofL’s Jeffrey Sun, project director and professor of higher education, worked collaboratively with the U.S. Army to conceive and design the project, which was originally developed in 2014. The initiative was inspired by a joint offering between Columbia University and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Sun also worked on that program rollout in 2004.

The UofL/Army program offers programming opportunities on a bi-annual basis. CEHD professors teach approximately 60 MEC students, who are active-duty soldiers, from throughout the U.S. Delivered across two modules: face-to-face residential module in Fort Knox, and the clinical module delivered online, cadets receive personal and in-depth coaching and mentoring from experienced higher education professionals.

MEC students attend classes during the day and engage in extensive reading and writing assignments during the evenings and weekends. Sprinkled in throughout the program are social activities, which emphasize networking and learning the student experience, along with leadership development seminars about higher education administration.

Soldier placements range across institution types. The most recent group of students represented Georgia State, Mississippi State, Norfolk State, Northwestern, UCLA, Prairie View A&M and Tuskegee. The program is selective and diverse, with students of color representing more than 40% of soldiers in the latest course.

For 1^st Lieutenant Keila Roper, returning to her alma mater at Fort Valley State University in Georgia is an opportunity to change the way things were done during her time as a cadet. She says the MEC program also helped her foster communication across ranks.

“I feel like this program allows for young lieutenants like us to pick the brains of more seasoned guys. If we’re in uniform, or somewhere on base, we’d be intimidated to ask some of the things we’ve asked. But this program fosters an open policy to be able to have conversations that are open – it’s great,” Roper said.

Roper, along with 1^st Lieutenant Stherline Joseph, is recipient of the General Patton Internship, a program intended to increase diversity in the Army.

Major William R. Hale II is in the twilight of his military career, and says MEC was an opportunity to see career options beyond the military.

“MEC exposes us to higher education administration and give us some tools and a degree to pursue something different after a military career. It’s a great opportunity, paid for by the Army, for us to be able to get professional and personal development toward future goals,” Hale said.

Upon completion of the MEC program, students earn 18 hours of graduate credit, and are encouraged to continue their academic work in pursuit of a master’s degree in higher education administration.

The College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development’s Nina Marijanovic contributed to this article. 

According to , institutions designated as Military Friendly “strive towards and succeed in the areas that matter most in helping veterans make the transition from the military to school and, ultimately, satisfying careers in the civilian world.”

To earn the designation, Military Friendly evaluates public data and proprietary data gathered through an annual data-driven survey process. Institutions are evaluated in six weighted areas:

• Academic Policies & Compliance
• Graduation & Career Outcomes
• Culture & Commitment
• Military Student Support & Retention
• Admissions and Orientation
• Financial Aid & Loan Repayment.

Examples of UofL’s commitment to serving this population include the key functions provided by the Office of Veteran and Military Student Services, pending creation of a Military-Connected Student Advisory Council to build on efficiencies and to share best practices in serving this population, offering waived undergraduate and graduate application fees, and offering priority course registration to this population.

“We are very proud of the almost 7% of our student body who are military-connected and of our staff and faculty who serve this population,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Earning this designation is validation of our ongoing work to make UofL a great place to learn. However, we recognize we can always do more and we remain committed to improving how we serve this important population.”

Story written by Kyle Hurwitz, UofL’s director of Military and Online Initiatives.