Jillian Ventrone is a higher education counselor for service members aboard a federal installation, working with Marines, Sailors, and their families to help them transition to education or to other professions. She is the go-to expert for professional advice for Marines, Sailors, and dependents who want to successfully transition into higher education. She writes for the base Education Newsletter monthly and has an article published in the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges Consortium publication. Robert W. Blue has been a civilian education and career counselor for the military since 2001, working in the San Diego area on Navy and Marine Corps bases providing higher education services to Marines and sailors of all ranks, from junior enlisted to admiral. He has been responsible for setting up college programs, including classroom instruction, on dozens of U.S. Navy ships. His duties have included marketing, writing, and editing education newsletters for four different bases. Counseling one-on-one or in large group formats, he assists sailors, Marines, and dependent family members with pursuing their higher education goals. Before his career as a civilian educator for the military, he served 24 years with the U.S. Navy. For most of that time, his assigned duties were as a military career counselor and an educational services officer, helping sailors pursue vocational certifications and college programs through stateside bases, overseas duty stations, or on ships in the fleet. The U.S. Navy assisted him in attaining a United Services Military Apprenticeship Program Department of Labor certificate in counseling, an associate's degree, and a bachelor's degree. Through the GI Bill, he also obtained two master's degrees completed aboard military bases.
