Air Force's New Courses Hope to Close 'Developmental Gap' Before Airmen Become NCOs

New education courses that will be required for enlisted airmen to become noncommissioned and senior noncommissioned officers have been fully rolled out across the Air Force, the service announced last week.

Following nine months of testing, the Air Force's new "Foundations" classes are "fully operational," the service said in a press release. The courses are part of an effort announced last year to beef up airmen's training before they attend an enlisted professional military education, known as PME, at places such as Airman Leadership School, the Noncommissioned Officer Academy or a Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy.

"Some airmen go five or six years between PME courses, which is way too long," Col. Damian Schlussel, commander of the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, said in the press release. "These courses close that developmental gap by delivering the right content at the right time in an airman's career."

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These courses -- titled Junior Enlisted Foundations Course 300, Noncommissioned Officer Foundations Course 500, and Senior Noncommissioned Officer Foundations Course 700 -- will take place over five days at an airman's base, with four days of the curriculum coming from the Barnes Center and one day being specific to the service member's major command.

A memo detailing the rollout of the courses says that officials are hoping to prioritize enrollment for senior airmen with more than 24 months' time in grade who haven't attended Airman Leadership School, technical sergeants who have not attended an NCO academy, and master sergeants who have not attended an SNCO academy.

Prior to these classes, airmen would go through Professional Enhancement Seminars -- informal educational presentations that lasted a few days at an airman's base. The new courses are more structured and will become prerequisites to attending the professional military education schools beginning Dec. 31, 2025, according to the memo. 

The initiative to revamp all aspects of an enlisted airman's professional development was first laid out in a September 2023 letter by then-Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. "CQ" Brown Jr. and then-Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass.

Refining the noncommissioned officer corps has been seen as one of the key missions for the Department of the Air Force as it pivots to "great power competition" -- a term used to describe increased funding and strategy aimed at the rising threats from adversaries, namely China.

"Over the past several years, our service has been working diligently to meet our national defense needs. Our most significant advantage remains steadfast -- a powerful, capable enlisted corps," the leaders wrote in their letter. "We must continue to improve upon how we develop these airmen to sustain our competitive advantage."

In February, the Department of the Air Force announced sweeping changes to its organization structure and training, something service Secretary Frank Kendall said underscored an urgent need to be prepared for conflict with China.

Among those changes was bringing back cyber-focused warrant officers, a development first reported on by Military.com, resurrecting the corps of highly technical service members who are above the enlisted ranks but below the commissioned officer ranks for the first time since it was discontinued more than six decades ago.

Last week, the service announced it had selected 78 airmen as the inaugural class to attend Warrant Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. The first group is expected to begin their training in October, and are set to be at their duty stations by 2025, the service said.

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