Air University (AU) provides the full spectrum of Air Force education, from pre-commissioning to the highest levels of professional military education, including degree granting and professional continuing education for officers, enlisted and civilian personnel throughout their careers. AU's PME programs educate Airmen on the capabilities of air and space power and its role in national security. These programs focus on the knowledge and abilities needed to develop, employ, command, and support air, space and cyberspace power at the highest levels. Specialized professional continuing educational programs provide scientific, technological, managerial and other professional expertise to meet the needs of the Air Force. AU conducts research in air, space and cyberspace power, education, leadership and management. AU also provides citizenship programs and contributes to the development and testing of Air Force doctrine, concepts and strategy.
Air University, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., is a key component of Air Education and Training Command, and is the Air Force's center for professional military education.
Air University's primary operating locations are concentrated on three main installations. Most AU programs are at Maxwell AFB in northwest Montgomery, Ala.; some are across town at Maxwell's Gunter Annex; and one is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Although AU draws students from throughout the Department of Defense and from the military forces of other nations, its mission is more easily described in terms of the two main groups it's primarily organized to serve: U.S. Air Force commissioned officers and enlisted members. For each Airman, educational opportunities begin before they enter active service and follow them throughout their careers.
The Wright Brothers established the first U.S. civilian flying school in Montgomery in 1910. By the 1920s, Montgomery became an important link in the growing system of aerial mail service. In the early 1930s the Army Air Corps Tactical School moved to Maxwell and Montgomery became the country's intellectual center for airpower education.
Air University, established in 1946, continues the proud tradition of educating tomorrow's planners and leaders, in air, space and cyberspace power for the Air Force, other branches of the U.S. armed forces, federal government civilians and international organizations. Today, Air University's reach spans not only the globe, but the careers of every Air Force member.
AU’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) is the US Air Force graduate school for strategists. A highly qualified and motivated faculty, a small and carefully selected student body, a coherent and challenging curriculum, outstanding educational and research resources, and a well-designed facility combine to produce tomorrow’s senior military leaders who are experts in the role of military force in the art of statecraft.
At the core of our program is a one-year in-residence Master of Philosophy degree in Military Strategy. For a select cadre of our top graduates we also offer a Doctorate of Philosophy in Military Strategy. The emphasis is not on military operations, per se, but rather on the strategic nexus where military and security professionals interact with decision makers on policy, diplomacy, international relations, geopolitics, and matters of military and political theory. In short, AU takes air, space, and cyber-minded officers and educate them to become strategists at the national level where the military tool--airpower in particular--is contemplated as one of several instruments of power that may (or may not) be appropriate for achieving national objectives.
The Air War College (AWC) has three main departments. The Department of International Security Studies develops senior leaders who can evaluate today's complex, interdependent, and dynamic international system; develop and assess competing strategies for securing national objectives that integrate joint military, multinational, and multi-agency instruments of power; assess the context and content of the processes used in planning US national security policies; and be prepared to work effectively in the national security decision making arena. Our curriculum consists of three courses: National Security and Decision Making (NS-DM), Regional and Cultural Studies (RCS), and Global Security (GS).
Department of Leadership and Warfighting. In the Leadership course, students analyze fundamental concepts, logic, and analytical frameworks used in the development and application of leadership at the senior level in a joint environment. In the Warfighting course, students synthesize current and emerging joint warfighting and enabling capabilities across the range of military operations -- to include special emphasis on the employment and sustainment of Air, Space and Cyberspace forces in a joint, interagency, and multinational military environment. In addition, students synthesize Campaign Design, Theater Campaign Plans, and the Joint Operational Planning Process through which combatant commanders set the military conditions for attaining national and coalition objectives as both a supported and supporting instrument of power.
The Department of Strategy recruits, retains, and develops quality faculty and staff to develop and deliver current and relevant graduate-level curriculum; to conduct and advise research and publications that are relevant to national security; and, to perform service and outreach that results in mission accomplishment and enhances strategic communications in order to educate and develop critical-thinking leaders to better serve our nation and our interests. The Department of Strategy (DES) develops and presents the core course Foundations of Strategy (FS). DES Faculty also develop and offer elective courses each year on topics such as command, ethics, leading change, civil military relations, coercive airpower, coalition warfare, irregular warfare, genocide, and military privatization.
The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) traces its roots to the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) located at Maxwell Field from 1931 to 1942. After World War II, as the independent Air Force was formed, grew, and developed, the requirements and expectations of the school evolved to fulfill the service's educational needs. The vision of pre-World War II leaders has withstood the test of time. Although more than eight decades have passed since the founding of the ACTS, the present 10-month curriculum still focuses on expanding understanding of air and space power and on the growth of midcareer officers. In 1962, the school became known by its current name, Air Command and Staff College.
During academic year 1994, ACSC undertook the most significant change to its educational program since the school's inception. The school transitioned from a lecture-based to a seminar-centered, active environment with an integrated curriculum geared to problem solving across the continuum from peace to war. In academic year 1999, ACSC began efforts to align its curriculum under the Air University commander's Strategic Guidance for the Continuum of Education. The ACSC program now functions as a portion of a comprehensive and integrated career-long professional military education program.
The Squadron Officer College (SOC) is the Air Force's center for company grade officer professional development. SOC fulfills this role by educating and mentoring its students during the most crucial period of their development; their early, formative years as current and future airpower leaders. SOC houses a resident-education program specifically targeted at the development needs of junior officers. Squadron Officer School (SOS), delivers primary developmental education for captains and their Department-of-the-Air-Force (DAF). They are exposed to educational and experiential opportunities that challenge them to become more effective leaders for our Air Force.
The International Officer School (IOS) is the lead-up course to prepare all international officers for attending Air War College (AWC), Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), and Squadron Officer College (SOC). While the USAF recently formally recognized building partnerships as a core function, the importance of assisting partner nations has always been implicitly understood and practiced. Allied officers began attending AU in 1946. In 1954 the USAF instituted the Allied Officer Preparatory Phase Course to aid the adjustment for international officers attending AU programs. In 1985, after numerous name changes, the program became IOS. To this day, IOS operates to enable the educational mission of the schools and the programs it supports.
Since 1954 over 11,000 international military students (IMS) from 143 countries have graduated from IOS preparatory courses. A dedicated unit of only 19 members, IOS provides exceptional support to nearly 250 IMSs and their families annually during their participation in AU programs. The unit is organized with a dean of students providing administrative support prior to the students’ arrival and during their stay. The dean of education and faculty execute the preparatory programs readying the international students for seamless integration with their US academic counterparts. Five preparatory classes are held annually, concluding prior to the start of the educational programs the international students will join. The courses are seven weeks in duration and predominately focus on refinement of communication skills by familiarizing participants with common terminology and stressing the military context the students require for success in their advanced coursework. IOS also executes the congressionally mandated Field Studies Program (FSP) as implemented by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms Export Control Act, and the Security Assistance Training Program. FSP objectives are formed around 11 principle tenets that ensure international students understand government, military, and citizen responsibilities to protect, preserve, and respect individual rights. Graduates will comprehend foundational facets of American life, US society, institutions, and ideals and how these aspects reflect US commitment to internationally recognized human rights. With the help of IOS, international students are able to hit the ground running when integrated alongside US officers into the academic culture of each school.
Today’s cyberspace domain’s operational tempo does not provide the luxury of being able to spend 10-20 years working to mature cyber tactics, techniques and procedures; and numerous organizations exist across the Federal Government which have cyberspace strategic/operational/tactical domain expertise. As such, an Air Force Cyber College can be used to gather critical, strategic thinkers from all the key players in the government and the private sector, to advance our newest operational domain of cyberspace. The Cyber College enables AU to dynamically collaborate with cyberspace thought leaders, and to lead (as appropriate) the development of an agile cyber workforce who’s supporting policy and doctrine is just as agile.
Building upon Air University’s reputation, Cyber College will be designed to address the question of how the Air Force can best respond to threats faced to its core missions- be those threats strategic, technological or resource-driven. The College integrates existing Air University cyber research capabilities, including those at AFIT, to educate Airmen and produce scholarly research to inform decision leaders.
(Link: http://www.airuniversity.af.mil/)