LIVING THE MISSION
HOMELAND SECURITY
A veteran turned educator fights to safeguard America’s schools.
“I know I’m making a difference,” he says. “Kids
are socially at risk more than anything else. To me,
that means they are at risk of not having the opportunity
to reach their potential.”
Combs began his second career as a Junior Army
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) instructor,
then taught social studies
and success strategies to
at-risk eighth-graders at
Fairborn High School.
In 2006, while working
toward his master’s in
Educational Leadership
at Antioch University
Midwest, he was named Ohio’s Teacher of the Year.
“Antioch University got me to think completely
differently about how I approach all education,”
Combs says. “It’s not a ‘right’ to get an education.
It’s a sacred privilege. I don’t want to die without
learning as much as I possibly can.”
Combs did tours in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Germany,
and England, and has served as an assistant principal
at two Ohio schools. He also worked as an adjunct
professor at AUM and Wright State University. But
he feels that he’s making the most effective contributions
toward education by traveling the country as an
independent consultant and guest speaker, addressing
teachers on topics ranging from differentiated
instruction to discipline and school safety. In
December, Foxhead Books published Combs’ first
book, “Mission Critical: A Veteran’s Tour of Duty in
Public Education.”
Combs, who spent years training special military
forces, says that teachers have more in common with
soldiers than they might think, which is the premise of
his book. “They are in an ever-changing environment,”
he explains. “They are in an ever-changing terrain.
They are often in a hostile territory, honestly.”
When asked about his advice for new teachers,
Combs offers his personal motto: never settle.
“Get comfortable with change. Keep your mind
sharp. Your job is more important than other people
think.” -WF
“IT’S NOT A
‘RIGHT’ TO GET AN
EDUCATION. IT’S A
SACRED PRIVILEGE.”
Photo courtesy of AUM
Learn more about Combs at
his website, ericcombs.net
E
ric Combs was stationed with the U.S. Air Force
in South Korea in 1999 when two students
armed with bombs and guns opened fire at
Columbine High School in Colorado, killing 13
people and injuring two dozen more. As a military
defense expert, Combs was abroad to protect the
U.S. But news of the shooting made him want to do
more at home to help his country’s children.
“I thought, ‘I can do all of these things, but kids
are still killing kids,’” he says.
One year later, Combs retired as a senior master
sergeant and moved his family to his home state
of Ohio. He enrolled in the federal government’s
Troops to Teachers program at the University of
Dayton, which set him on the path to becoming one
of his state’s top teachers, an assistant principal, and
an author.
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