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As a logistics management specialist in the Air National Guard, Jonathan Menard’s career is thriving these days.

Six years ago, the West Warwick native enlisted in the Air National Guard. In 2025 he signed up for six more years, a reappointment that came with a big compensation bonus. But for him, it’s an even bigger bonus to earn his Bachelor of Professional Studies (B.P.S.) degree in organizational leadership at ΢��Ȧ. He says the skills he’s acquired will launch his career to the next level.

“I’ve learned how to be a transformative leader, not transactional, like I’ve been in the past,” says Menard, 29, who is assigned to the 143rd Airwing Base in North Kingstown. “I know how to be a leader who is aware of ethics, morality and the current issues the world is facing. I can also look at myself and examine the biases I need to overcome.”

With his degree, Menard will be eligible to become a commissioned officer in the Air National Guard.

“I’m currently a staff sergeant, but having my degree will take me from middle to upper management in the military,” he says.

The B.P.S. program is built for the schedule of a busy working adult like Menard. Participants take fully online courses that are offered asynchronously and synchronously. Each semester is split into two seven-week sessions, with two courses offered per session. 

Shortly after enrolling in 2023, Menard found out that he was being deployed to Qatar to serve as a logistics planner. He was part of a team responsible for moving 2,000 Air Force members out of Qatar to the United States. While it was a demanding mission, Menard says it didn’t interrupt his B.P.S. studies.

“I’d work from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and then afterwards I would start on my B.P.S. assignments,” he says of his five-month deployment in Qatar. “I received an abundance of support from my military supervisors and ΢��Ȧ instructors. But it was a good test of my time management skills.”

Prior to enrolling in the B.P.S. program, Menard attended the University of Maine, the Community College of Rhode Island and the University of Rhode Island, accumulating 94 college credits.

“Entering my first year of college at the University of Maine was a wake-up call,” he says. “In high school, I never had to study. I could just show up for classes, take in information and regurgitate it the next day on a quiz. College wasn’t the same; it involved a lot more work. That first year was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.”

Menard left the University of Maine and enrolled at CCRI, where he earned his associate’s degree. In 2019 he enrolled at URI, but then the pandemic struck.

“I was given active-duty orders to handle Department of Health calls at the Rhode Island State House, so, I couldn’t be a full-time student,” he says. 

Cassie Masano, a lieutenant in Menard’s Air National Guard unit, told him about ΢��Ȧ’s B.P.S. program. Her husband, too, was enrolled in the program.

“I instantly knew that this was my time, and if I was going to finish my degree this would be the best way to do it,” he says. “I refused to fail.”

His advice to prospective B.P.S. students: “Don’t hesitate. Just do it. If you have the desire, make it happen.”

Learn more about the B.P.S. program.