The United States Army highlights the importance of lifelong learning as one of the goals of soldiers. Exploring a grounded theory design, 13 soldiers assigned to Army organizations in Okinawa, Japan represented the construct of a qualitative research study. The participant’s answers encompassed responses to a series of questions regarding leadership’s thoughts and perceptions on the effects of civilian education on enlisted soldier’s performance, professional development, and advancement. The support elements fostering soldiers to engage in post-secondary education while in service provide a portion of the employer’s commitment in supporting education but determining the employer’s benefits represents a challenge. When the soldier participates in opportunities in furthering education levels, correlating the knowledge gains with performance forms the premise of the current study.