Air University is a professional military education university system of the United States Air Force. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award master's degrees.
Organizations Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) Carl A. Spaatz Center for Officer Education USAF Air War College (AWC) Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) Squadron Officer School (SOS) International Officers School (IOS) School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) USAF Center for Strategic Deterrence Studies Curtis E. Lemay Center for Doctrine Development & Education Air Force Global College (AFGC) Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) Civilian Leadership Development School (CLDS) Ira C. Eaker College for Professional Development Air Force Chaplain Corps College Air Force Personnel Professional Development School Commanders' Professional Development School Defense Financial Management & Comptroller School National Security Space Institute Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) Civilian Acculturation and Leadership Training (CALT) Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education Airman Leadership School (ALS) Air Force Career Development Academy Air Force Enlisted Heritage Research Institute (AFEHRI) Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy (SNCOA) Air Force Noncommissioned Officer Academy (NCOA) Enlisted Professional Military Education Instructor Course (EPMEIC) Chief Master Sergeant Leadership Course (CLC) USAF First Sergeant Academy (FSA) USAF Center for Counterproliferation Studies Air University Press Air Force Fellows Program (AFF) Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI)
Schools and centers The institutions that fall under Air University include:
Officer professional military education The Carl A. Spaatz Center for Officer Education (Spaatz Center) unified the continuum of Air Force officer professional military education. Activated in 2008, the Spaatz Center was named in honor of the Air Force's first chief of staff, General Carl A. Spaatz. The center was disestablished in 2017.
Squadron Officer School The Squadron Officer School in-residence program is a 6.5-week course for USAF captains. The course is structured around four primary areas: Leadership, building highly-effective teams, logical and ethical reasoning in decision making, and multi-domain joint warfare.
Air Command and Staff College
The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is a 10-month master's-level resident program that prepares field grade USAF, U.S. Army and USMC officers in pay grade O-4 and USN / USCG officers in pay grade O-4, their international counterparts, and U.S. civilian equivalents, for positions of higher responsibility within the military and other government agencies. Often referred to as "intermediate level education" (ILE), intermediate level professional military education (intermediate level PME) or phase I joint PME, ACSC is also available via "distance learning", primarily a CD-ROM enabled correspondence course.
Air War College
The USAF Air War College (AWC) is a 10-month resident course for USAF, U.S. Army and USMC lieutenant colonels and colonels (pay grades O-5 and O-6), USN and USCG commanders and captains (pay grade O-5 and O-6), their international counterparts, and Department of Defense and Department of the Air Force civilian equivalents (GS-14/GM-14, GS-15/GM-15). AWC prepares students to lead in a joint, interagency and multi-national environment at the strategic level of military operations. Also known as "senior developmental education" (SDE), senior level PME, or (since 2010) phase II JPME, AWC is also available at the Pentagon and selected active USAF installations as a 10-month seminar program paralleling the academic year and course content of the resident course. It is also available via "distance learning" as a correspondence course typically requiring 18 to 24 months to complete.
The Secretary of the Air Force's annual National Security Forum (NSF) conducted for select influential civilian leaders in business, industry, state and local government, law, academia, media, and the clergy is administered and hosted by the AWC.
International Officer School The International Officer School is a seven-week course designed to provide international officers an enhanced understanding of the United States and prepares them for attending Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, or the Air War College.
Enlisted professional military education
The Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (Barnes Center, formerly the College for Enlisted Professional Military Education) is responsible for the instructional programs and faculty development for all Air Force enlisted professional military education programs. This includes the airman leadership schools, noncommissioned officer academies, and the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy.
Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy The Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy graduates more than 1,800 Air Force chief master sergeant selectees, senior master sergeants, senior master sergeant selectees, and non-commissioned officers and chief petty officers from other U.S. military services and the services of international U.S.-allied nations annually. It is located on Maxwell AFB's Gunter Annex.
NCO academies The NCO academies provide selected noncommissioned officers education. Several NCO academies operate worldwide on various Air Force installations.
Airman Leadership School The goal of the program is to provide senior airmen an opportunity to understand more fully their position in the USAF organizational structure and the continued need for professional development to be effective NCOs.
First Sergeant Academy
Enlisted Heritage Research Institute The Enlisted Heritage Research Institute is dedicated to preserving the history of the enlisted corps of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Aeronautical Division, Air Service, Air Corps, and Air Forces in the development of air power to defend the United States. The institute achieves this by featuring artifacts, collections, and pictorial exhibits, written and oral documentation, audiovisuals, equipment, and selected aircraft parts. Additionally, students use the in-house and online research capabilities to enhance learning and complete enlisted heritage research projects.
Officer accessions
The Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development (Holm Center), previously known as Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools (AFOATS), operates two of the four USAF officer commissioning sources. These are the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) at civilian colleges and universities across the United States, and the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) at Maxwell AFB.
Although it is a USAF officer accession and training program, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) does not fall under Air University. This was also true of Air National Guard's since-disestablished Academy of Military Science, which has now been merged into OTS at Maxwell AFB. The U.S. Air Force Academy is a Direct Reporting Unit (DRU), and the superintendent of the USAF Academy reports directly to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Admission to and administration of the ANG Academy of Military Science was controlled by the director of the Air National Guard via the National Guard Bureau (NGB). The director of the Air National Guard and the NGB still control input of prospective direct accession ANG officers via OTS.
Citizenship Development, Aerospace Education, and associated programs
Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
The Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) program provides citizenship training and air and space science education via a cadet program for high school students in grades 9 through 12 at various high schools across the United States and at select Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) at US military installations overseas. Instruction is conducted by retired field grade USAF officers employed by the respective school systems, assisted by retired USAF senior non-commissioned officers under similar employment.
AFJROTC is a "citizenship program" for high school students and should not be confused with AFROTC, which is a "pre-commissioning program" for four-year college and university students to become Air Force officers. Academic education
The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a geographically separated unit (GSU) of Air University, located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) is the only degree-granting institution of higher learning in the world dedicated exclusively to enlisted military personnel. CCAF offers educational opportunities for active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve airmen and NCOs to earn a job-related Associate of Applied Science degree. CCAF also facilitates selected professional certification and recognition for airmen. Possession of a CCAF degree has in recent years become a de facto mandatory requirement for promotion to senior master sergeant and higher, regardless of whether or not the candidate has a civilian degree such as a baccalaureate. This de facto status is now official: starting with the 2007 promotion cycle, promotion candidates cannot receive critical endorsements on performance reports without having first received an associate degree from CCAF.
Professional continuing education
The Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education (LeMay Center), previously known as the Air Force Doctrine Development and Education Center, develops and publishes Air Force doctrine, teaches doctrine through resident and on-line courses, and advocates air power through visionary war gaming, and provides integration and outreach services for Air University.
The Ira C. Eaker College for Professional Development provides continuing education and technical training to Air Force and other Department of Defense personnel and international officers, including resident and distance-learning courses for a variety of Air Force specialties.
United States Air Force Center for Strategic Deterrence Studies The USAF Counterproliferation Center (CPC) was established in 1998 at the direction of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Located at Maxwell AFB, this center capitalizes on the resident expertise of Air University, while extending its reach far beyond - and influences a wide audience of leaders and policy makers. A memorandum of agreement between the Air Staff's Director for Nuclear and Counterproliferation (then AF/XON) and Air War College commandant established the initial personnel and responsibilities of the center. This included integrating counterproliferation awareness into the curriculum and ongoing research at Air University; establishing an information repository to promote research on counterproliferation and nonproliferation issues; and directing research on the various topics associated with counterproliferation and nonproliferation .