Keeping America’s smaller Army strong is a very challenging task for today’s leaders. Maintaining a trained and ready force means we must focus on individual soldiers to ensure they reach their fullest potential while maximizing their combat effectiveness. An extremely important factor in our soldiers’ achieving this goal is higher education. When we spend more resources on weapon systems than on educating our soldiers who must operate these systems, the Army has neglected one of its most valuable assets. The NCO Corps must encourage and support the efforts of their soldiers to complete college courses while serving on active duty. Higher education not only supports quality of life, but is also a combat multiplier and has been proven to reduce stress levels in soldiers. These are only a few of the benefits of higher education and its importance to today’s force.