An instructor teaches the inaugural initial operational capability of the Junior Enlisted Foundations 300 course at the Robert D. Gaylor Noncommissioned Officer Academy on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Nov. 14, 2023. (Courtesy photo)
By: FEDweek StaffWith the recent graduation of 50 Louisiana Air National Guard members who completed airmanship courses, the Air Force has declared its new Foundations curriculum fully operational.
With Foundations, the Air Force is marking the transition away from the base-level professional enhancement seminars. The new curriculum will include all prerequisite courses for enlisted airmen by the end of this year. Service leadership expects to better results than that provided by legacy professional military education (PME) curriculums.
“Some airmen go five or six years between PME courses, which is may too long,” said Col. Damian Schlussel, commander of the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, which oversees the initiative.
“These courses close that developmental gab by delivering the right content at the right time in an airman’s career,” he said.
Schlussel praised the work of the staffers and instructors who developed the Foundations curriculum – calling it a job that took only months to accomplish when it could have taken years.
“Our mission was clear and concise, and our team had support from the top down,” said Tech Sgt. Kate Hytinen, the non-commissioned officer in charge at the Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama-based Barnes Center.
Now that Foundations is in place, it will be up to major commands to incorporate its courses in their basic educational catalogs. While the Barnes Center will continue to provide 80 percent of the course content, the commands will come up with the remaining 20 percent. Developmental advisors at each base will manage and lead the courses.
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