Air University

Steven L. Kwast, Lieutenant General, Commander and President

LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education

Michael D. Rothstein, Major General, Commander
AIR UNIVERSITY

LeMay Center for Doctrine

Development and Education

The Redesigned Air Force 

Continuum of Learning

Rethinking Force Development for the Future

Lt Gen Darryl L. Roberson

Commander, Air Education and Training Command

Dr. Matthew C. Stafford

Vice President for Academic Affairs, Air University

LeMay Paper No. 1

Air University Press

Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education

Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
Project Editor

Dr. Ernest Allan Rockwell

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Roberson, Darryl L., 1960- author. | Stafford, Matthew C., 1958– 

author. | Air University (U.S.). Air Force Research Institute, issuing 

body. | Air University (U.S.). Press, publisher.

Title: The redesigned Air Force continuum of learning rethinking force 

development for the future / Darryl L. Roberson, Matthew C. Stafford.

Other titles: LeMay paper ; no. 1.

Description: First edition. | Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama : Air 

University Press, Air Force Research Institute, [2017] | Series: LeMay 

paper ; no. 1 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: 

LCCN 2017045535| ISBN 9781585662807 | ISN 1585662801 Subjects: 

LCSH: United States. Air Force—Airmen—Training of. | United 

States. Air Force—Officers—Training of.

Classification: LCC UG638 .R625 2017 | DDC 358.4/150973—dc23 | SUDOC D

301.26/32:1

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017045535

Published by Air University Press in October 2017

Disclaimer

Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or 

implied within are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, the 

United States Air Force, the Air Education and Training Command, the Air University, or any other US government agency. 

Cleared for public release: distribution unlimited.

This LeMay Paper and others in the series are available electronically at the AU Press website: http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil/index

.asp.

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Air University Press
iii

Contents

List of Illustrations v

About the Authors ix

Introduction 1

 A Call for Change 1

 Making the Case for Change 5

 Where to Enact Change 12

 Innovations 14

 Conclusion 17

v

List of Illustrations

Figure

1 Air Force senior leader priorities 3

2 Gen David L. Goldfein, 21st Chief of Staff, US Air Force 3

3 SecDef Mattis testifies before Congress 4

4 Do current military might and prowess undermine calls for 

innovation? 5

5 Modularized learning—breaking large learning experiences 

into smaller, more easily mastered modules 6

6 Blended learning—combining modalities to maximize 

learning effectiveness 7

7 Institutional versus occupational competencies 9

8 The Airman Learning Record 9

9 The AETC Senior Leader Summit on the Redesigned 

Continuum of Learning 10

10 The New Air Force learning ecosystem 11

11 Learning through collaboration—face-to-face and online 13

12 A continuing need for human instructors to mentor, 

coach, and guide 16

13 The Secretary of the Air Force and the CSAF are 100 percent 

behind enhanced learning 17

Table

1 The Air Force Institutional Competency List 8

vii

The LeMay Papers

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media around the world.

ix

About the Authors

Lt Gen Darryl L. Roberson is the commander, Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio–Randolph, Texas. He is responsible 

for the recruiting, training, and education of Air Force personnel. His command includes the Air Force Recruiting Service, two numbered air forces, 

and Air University. The command operates nearly 1,370 trainer, fighter, and 

mobility aircraft, 23 wings, 12 bases, and five geographically separated groups. 

It trains more than 293,000 students per year with approximately 62,000 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian, and contractor personnel.

General Roberson is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Euro–NATO 

Joint Jet pilot training, and the National War College. He has been a Thunderbird air demonstration pilot and a Congressional Fellow on Capitol Hill and 

has served on the Air Staff and Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He has commanded 

a squadron, operations group, and three wings. Prior to becoming the AETC 

commander, he was commander, 3rd Air Force/17th Expeditionary Air Force, 

Ramstein AB, Germany. General Roberson flew combat missions in Iraq during operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom as well as in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Dr. Matthew C. Stafford is the vice president for academic affairs, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. In this position, Dr. Stafford is the 

principal architect of the resident and nonresident (distributed learning) 

components of the continuum of education. The vice president provides oversight of curriculum integration throughout the continuum and is the office of 

primary responsibility for the continuum’s strategic guidance and assessment 

of compliance. Dr. Stafford advises the Air University commander and president on the review and selection of all key faculty members. He also provides 

overarching guidance and educational leadership to achieve the university’s 

high standard of excellence and innovation in educating aerospace leaders 

and meeting regional accreditation criteria. In addition, Dr. Stafford is the focal point for coordinating requests for changes to curricula originating outside Air University. 

1

Introduction

The USAF Strategic Master Plan posited five strategic vectors to help prioritize investments, drive institutional change, and operationalize key concepts. These included providing effective twenty-first-century deterrence; 

maintaining a robust and flexible global intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability; ensuring a full-spectrum capable, high-end focused force; pursuing a multidomain approach to the Air Force’s five core 

missions; and continuing to pursue game-changing technologies. Arguably 

Air Education and Training Command (AETC) supports all of these vectors; 

however, the call for a full-spectrum capable, high-end focused force falls 

squarely within the AETC mission. AETC was tasked with preparing for the 

future, yet much of what we deliver under the banner of force development is 

lodged in a learning paradigm that has not altered substantially since the creation of our service.

The Human Capital Annex states

World class application of airpower requires a highly specialized and competent workforce developed through deliberate training, education, and leadership experiences. The 

development of a technically competent Airman can take years and, as such, the Air 

Force must take steps to leverage and retain that investment. It is imperative that we 

develop a holistic strategy for attracting, recruiting, developing, and retaining the right 

Total Force Airmen that meet the needs of the Air Force in a cost effective way. . . .

The need for Airmen who possess the right occupational skills and institutional competencies forms the core requirement of force development. Where occupational competencies are required to build technical depth, the Air Force’s institutional competencies 

are key to ensuring the ability of Airmen to operate successfully in a constantly changing 

environment at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels.1

In this article, we will briefly review the disruptive forces that are driving 

change across our Air Force, share some insights into how our sister services 

are reacting to similar pressures in terms of their force-development strategies, review what our senior leaders approved, and describe how we are moving ahead with this new, force-development paradigm. This new approach 

will eventually affect every aspect of force development, so it is important that 

all Airmen understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.

A Call for Change

We anticipate four emergent threats that will drive “profound and rapid 

change over the next 20 years: geopolitics; natural resources; challenges to the 

global commons; [and the] speed of technological change.”2

 These threats, 
2

coupled with resource constraints, the age of our Air Force platforms, the fact 

that our service is rebounding from its lowest numbers in its entire history, 

and the realization that our force-development strategies differ very little 

from those of the past all combined into a wake-up call for senior leaders. Our 

Air Force requires innovative solutions to deal with these new challenges.

One should not assume from this discussion that the future is merely a collection of recurring and emerging threats. Embedded within this dynamic 

environment are exciting opportunities as well. Technological advances are 

enhancing Air Force capabilities in many ways. Partnerships between military, industrial, and academic entities are lighting the way to new innovations 

in dozens of mission areas. Further, the strategic context has the potential to 

reinvigorate alliances and to bring new partners to aid the United States in 

making the world a safer, more peaceful place. Yet the threats remain, and as 

our mission is to fly, fight, and win for our nation, we must remain vigilant to 

America’s security needs.

We must also remain vigilant to the unique needs of our learners. Today’s 

Airmen come to us far more technically savvy than their predecessors. They 

have grown up in a world where information is ubiquitous—available anywhere, anytime, and quite literally at their fingertips. They have come to expect tailored learning experiences that meet their needs when and where 

those needs arise. Their ability to absorb information quickly and to apply it 

immediately provides a great opportunity in terms of agility—an opportunity 

we must leverage as we reinvent force development for our Air Force.

Yet, it is equally important that we continue to meet the needs of our more 

traditional learners. The needs of our Total Force require that we be alert to 

the different levels of access and competing time demands confronting our 

Airmen. Workforce revitalization is predicated upon our ability to reach our 

Airmen—all of our Airmen—in meaningful ways and enrich their talents, 

skills, and knowledge even as they are giving so much of their time and efforts 

in service to our nation. It is a challenging context for achieving desired learning outcomes.

Other aspects of our context are the priorities introduced by the Secretary 

of the Air Force, Dr. Heather Wilson, in August 2017.3

 Every one of the five 

priorities—restore readiness, cost-effectively modernize, drive innovation, 

develop exceptional leaders, and strengthen alliances—is directly related to 

the way in which we develop our Airmen to fly, fight, and win.
3

Figure 1. Air Force senior leader priorities

These also capture CSAF Gen David L. Goldfein’s intent to revitalize Air 

Force squadrons and strengthen joint and multidomain war-fighting leaders 

and teams.4

 Lastly, these address the recent Secretary of Defense (SecDef) call 

for increased force readiness and lethality.5

Figure 2. Gen David L. Goldfein, 21st Chief of Staff, US Air Force
4

The Air Force is not alone in facing the challenges and opportunities of the 

contemporary context. In his testimony to the House Armed Services Committee in June 2017, SecDef James Mattis noted the Department of Defense 

must “be prepared to deal with technological, operational, and tactical surprise, which requires changes to the way we train and educate our leaders and 

our forces.”6

 The depth and breadth of emergent threats and the potential of 

existent opportunities have driven all of the US military services to reconsider 

their operating concepts.

Figure 3. SecDef Mattis testifies before Congress

In 2011, the US Army published its TRADOC Pamphlet 525-8-2, Army 

Learning Concept for 2015, calling for an entirely new model for Army 

learning. Recently, the Army published an updated pamphlet, US Army 

Learning Concept for Training and Education for 2020–2040, focused on a 

learner-centric approach that creates lifelong learners through the use of technologically enhanced training, top-notch instructors, and outcomes-focused 

curricula—all delivered using a variety of mutually supportive modalities.7

The Navy has also taken up the challenge of reinventing learning. The 

Sailor 2025 program outlines the Navy’s strategy for human-capital management and force development, encompassing 43 initiatives aligned to three 

major lines of effort: personnel system modernization; enriched culture; and 

ready, relevant learning (RRL). The RRL initiatives include career-long learning delivered through modern methods; better instruction to replace the traditional industrial, pipeline training model; and mobile learning—available 

anywhere and at any time—and all leveraging cloud-hosted, advanced learning technologies.8
5

The Marines are equally attuned to the need for learning reform. Their 

Training and Education Command (TECOM) is implementing significant 

developmental reforms, including small unit decision-making and instructor 

professionalization initiatives. TECOM is leveraging advanced educational 

technology to create a Marine Corps Synthetic Training Environment that 

will ensure ample learning opportunities are readily available across a Marine’s career.9

So, the Air Force is not alone in recognizing the need for change, nor are 

we alone in implementing transformations. Through the Defense Advanced 

Distributive Learning Advisory Committee (DADLAC), the Military Education Coordination Council (MECC, providing oversight for officer joint professional military education [JPME]) and the Enlisted Military Education 

Review Council (EMERC, providing oversight over enlisted JPME), as well as 

through direct interactions and personal relationships, the services are staying very attuned to one another’s progress and sharing successes and even 

developmental/implementation costs where and when it is feasible to do so.10

Past efforts to implement such holistic changes have failed largely as a result of our Air Force’s success in being the most effective air force in the history of the world. The prevailing wisdom has been “why change?” 

Figure 4. Do current military might and prowess undermine calls for innovation?

Making the Case for Change

The current service initiatives are not an admission that we no longer hold 

the lead position in terms of military might and prowess; however, it is clear 

to our leaders that the rest of the world is catching up. Further, the breadth of 

challenges means US fighting forces may be called upon to achieve critical 
6

security objectives across a range of operational areas simultaneously. That 

requires a tremendous level of agility—intellectual and operational agility! 

Workforce revitalization, increased cognitive complexity, and expanded intellectual agility are absolutely necessary for our success in the future. So the 

answer to the question “why change” is simply “because we must.”

As we noted previously, we started this almost two years ago. Following the 

issue of the USAF Strategic Master Plan and Human Capital Annex, the Air 

Force conducted a detailed analysis of the existing force-development paradigm, coming up with dozens of recommendations as to how we might leverage state-of-the-art innovations in learning theory and educational technology to improve learning for our Airmen.

By late 2016, we had floated several papers and briefings describing the 

realm of the possible—how we might proceed. In February 2017, we presented a proposal to reinvent the Air Force learning paradigm at CORONA–

South. Convinced of the need and confident in the approach, the initiative 

was approved for implementation.

In short, the initiative consisted of five, interlinking innovations, all designed to forge more creative, intellectually agile, resilient, and competent 

Airmen for our Air Force. The five initiatives are:

1. Modularized learning, which is the process of breaking courses and programs down 

into small, easily “consumable,” chunked learning. Instead of signing up for multimonth 

programs of instruction, Airmen should be able to focus on the specific learning area(s) 

they need, achieving learning when and where it is needed.

Learning Opportunities

(Course, Program, etc.) 

Converted

to

Figure 5. Modularized learning—breaking large learning experiences into 

smaller, more easily mastered modules

2. Blended learning is meeting learning objectives through multiple learning modalities (face-to-face, facilitated, and self-paced online, self-study, simulations, games, exercises, group projects, etc.). For instance, instead of single learning experience consisting 

of only face-to-face learning, a blended experience combines modalities to maximize 

learning effectiveness. 
7

Blended 

Learning

Virtual

Collaborative

Exercises and

Projects 

Self Study Other

Simulations

and Games 

Facilitated

Face-to-Face

Figure 6. Blended learning—combining modalities to maximize learning 

effectiveness

3. On-command and on-demand learning. On-command learning represents the 

learning the Air Force requires for Airmen to achieve some level of expertise. Ondemand learning represents the learning Airmen desire to achieve personal and professional learning objectives. Combined with modularized learning, this concept supports the Air Force’s goal of creating and supporting lifelong learning.

4. Competency-based learning is an outcomes-based approach focused on competencies that ultimately results in a form of credentialing, such as certification or badging. 

Competencies exist within the Air Force today. The Institutional Competency List identifies those general competencies that are applicable to all Airmen, such as leading, communicating, and so forth.
8

Table 1. The Air Force Institutional Competency List. (Adapted from LeMay Center 

for Doctrine, “Annex 1-1, Force Development: Appendix: Institutional Competency 

List,” 17 April 2017, https://doctrine.af.mil/download.jsp?filename=1-1-D06-Appen

dix-1-Competency.pdf.)

Category Competency Subcompetency

Personal Embodies Airman 

Culture

•  Ethical Leadership

•  Followership

•  Warrior Ethos

•  Develops Self

Communicating •  Speaking and Writing

•  Active Listening

People/Team Leading People •  Develops and Inspires Others

•  Takes Care of People

•  Diversity

Fostering 

Collaborative 

Relationships

•  Builds Teams and Coalitions

•  Negotiating

Organizational Employing Military 

Capabilities

•  Operational and Strategic Art

•  Leverage Technology

•  Unit, Air Force, Joint, & Coalition Capabilities

•  Non-adversarial Crisis Response

Enterprise 

Perspective

•  Enterprise Structure and Relationships

•  Government Organization and Processes

•  Global, Regional, and Cultural Awareness

•  Strategic Communication

Managing 

Organizations and 

Resources

•  Resource Stewardship

•  Change Management

•  Continuous Improvement

Strategic Thinking • Vision

•  Decision Making

•  Adaptability

There are also occupational competencies specific to certain Air Force 

Specialty Codes (AFSC) or positions (see fig. 7). Although seldom referred 

to as “occupational competencies,” these are often identified as “skills” or 

“qualifications” and serve identical purposes. For example, the “Letter of Xs” 
9

used in flying units details skills and credentials specific to pilot qualifications. Similarly, within the AFSCs, there are specific tasks related to levels of 

proficiency that correlate well to competency-based learning.11 So, the Air 

Force uses competencies to some degree now. Our intent for the future is to 

expand this usage and to employ competencies as a “common currency” between the three “marketplaces” of education, training, and experience. Competencies mastered in experience will not have to be tackled again in education and vice versa.

Institutional vs Occupational Competencies

Although competencies come in many shapes and sizes, much of the literature on CBL 

talks about “institutional” and “occupational” competencies. Institutional competences 

are those that are cross-cutting, affecting every member of an organization. In the case 

of the Air Force, the institutional competences are specifically aim at leadership-development, describing the skills and knowledge necessary for growth as an Air Force 

leader. Occupational competencies are specific to technical specialties or unique 

requirements. A learner might master competencies in a variety of occupational areas 

but the institutional competencies are central – common to all who are members of 

the institution.

Figure 7. Institutional versus occupational competencies

5. Airman’s Learning Record (ALR) is a comprehensive record of all learning Airmen 

achieve during the course of their career. Currently, Airmen’s learning is documented in 

multiple record systems, including educational transcripts, training records, performance reports, and ancillary training transcripts; there is presently no mechanism for 

tracking competencies. The ALR will provide a one-stop shop to record accurately what 

Airmen know and can do. 

Airman

Learning Record

Civilian Education

- Grade/High School

- College

PME

Life Lessons

Books Read

Media Reviewed

Etc. ...

Vocational Training

Tech School

Flying Training

Life Lessons

Civilian jobs

Special Training

Skills through Hobbies

Etc. ...

Figure 8. The Airman Learning Record
10

Combined, the five, interlinking innovations that comprise the redesigned 

Continuum of Learning will change fundamentally how we develop the force. 

They innovations will allow us to be more agile, by equipping Airmen with 

skills and knowledge when and where they need it but will also help us to create and sustain lifelong learners.

These are wonderful improvements but will require a great deal of work. 

Frankly, as hard as it seemed, getting approval at CORONA was the easy part! 

Implementing this holistic change to our force-development paradigm is 

much, much harder. Fortunately, we have a great team of instructors, teachers, staff members, and leaders who have embraced the challenge and are 

stepping out smartly.

In early August, we met with all of the senior leaders in AETC—all of the 

numbered air force and wing commanders and their command chiefs. We 

laid out the components of the redesigned Continuum of Learning, talked in 

depth about how we would implement, looked at some early successes, and 

then challenged them to accelerate their efforts—even offering cash incentives for innovations.

Figure 9. The AETC Senior Leader Summit on the Redesigned Continuum of 

Learning. US Air Force Lt Gen Darryl Roberson, commander of Air Education

and Training Command (center), sits with Maj Gen Mark Brown, AETC deputy

commander (left), and CMSgt Juliet Gudgel, AETC command chief (right), during the Continuum of Learning Summit 1–2 August 2017 at Joint Base San

Antonio–Randolph, Texas.
11

We are also updating our Command Strategic Plan. We are anchoring the 

redesigned Continuum of Learning implementation to ensure all of our metrics will move us toward full utilization.

Additionally, we have taken note of some early adopters—organizations 

that have embraced redesigned Continuum of Learning concepts to enhance 

their force-development offerings. These early entries provide evidence of the 

power of these innovations and also sources of expertise that others can consult in modifying their own offerings.

The innovation that is most foundational to our future success, however, 

still lies in our future. Our Enterprise Learning Services ([ELS], part of our 

Information-Technology Service Provider [ITSP]) team, consisting of a variety of experts from across the command, is building a learning ecosystem on 

which all of these innovations can ride. It will provide a platform for courseware design, development, and delivery; handle surveys and assessments, including formal testing; and provide a complete suite of student-management 

support services. These include enrollment, registration, transcripting, and so 

forth. 

Self-Paced

Resources/Apps

Self-Paced

Resources/Apps

Physical

Resources

Social Media

Apps

WorkPerformance Apps

Virtual

Resources Event Apps

Collaborative

Resources/Apps

Mobile Apps Airman

Learning Record

All Airmen –

Total Force

Learning

Ecosystem All have acess All learning captured

Figure 10. The New Air Force learning ecosystem

What is unusual about our team’s approach is the way they have incorporated agility into the basic architecture of the learning ecosystem. Instead of 

purchasing specific systems that would lock us into certain approaches and 
12

require vast resources to maintain and update, the team is embracing agility. 

It has created a protected enclave on the cloud in which the ecosystem will 

reside. Within that ecosystem, various systems become available, riding on 

the ecosystem as applications (apps). Airmen will be able to access all of the 

apps to which they have privileges through their ecosystem licenses, and every Airman will have a license. Our goal is to have this accessible via .com and 

.edu domains and via the SIPR and NIPR nets—ubiquitous learning opportunities, ready access to advanced educational technology, and all connected to 

the ALR to track the learning that is achieved. That’s exciting!

Still, as exciting as this is, it is just another step on this journey. It is going 

to be a long, demanding voyage but it is the end state—the possibilities that lie 

before us—that keeps our team so motivated about the trip. In order to move 

out, we are going to change the way that we, as Airmen, think about learning.

In the past, learning was an interruption into our work: “We interrupt this 

career for some schooling!” There will still be times when Airmen need to 

join a class, but even that may be different. Instead of going away to a school, 

Airmen will be able to complete some synchronous learning requirements 

with a “TDY in place.” We are leveraging this in one of our tech-training programs already, and it is producing remarkable results.

Perhaps more important is that a lot of learning will move from the classroom, the self-study, or the online course right to the “point of need.” If Airmen need to reference the learning materials specific to a given task or requirement, they will find it on their personal devices, whether at work or at 

home studying for an upcoming task or assignment. 

Where to Enact Change

One desired location for expanded learning opportunities is the Air Force 

squadron. This correlates to Gen Goldfein’s emphasis on revitalizing Air Force 

squadrons, which he wants to be the centerpieces of Airmen’s service. He 

wants Air Force squadrons to be places where Airmen bond, learn, lead, develop, sustain the Air Force culture, and have fun together. Consequently, he 

is enthusiastically supporting our efforts to move more learning opportunities into the squadrons.

Using modularized learning, available anywhere and anytime, we can 

make learning opportunities readily available within squadrons; however, 

there is one piece that we cannot replicate: human interaction. This is critically important to this revitalization effort.

We know from leadership theory that strong bonds are created within the 

learner–teacher relationship. In fact, were we to ask, “Who in your life, other 
13

than a blood relative, has had the greatest impact in terms of the value structure that guides you through life,” chances are it would be a teacher—not necessarily a classroom instructor but certainly someone who saw something in 

you and gave of their personal time and talent to make you better. The Air 

Force needs teachers, mentors, coaches, and guides like this. Our Airmen 

need them more.

So, we are looking for Airmen who are willing to become teachers within 

their squadrons. We will provide content and training; the volunteers will 

take the content and their teaching skills to help other Airmen be more effective in their jobs and more committed to their Air Force. We are already providing some instructor training within enlisted professional military education. We are going to reach a lot more as we stand up virtual training 

opportunities. If this is something that appeals to you, we would like to hear 

from you. We will talk about how you can reach us at the end of this article. 

Even with a massive number of trained teachers, it is unlikely that we will 

have sufficient expertise to teach every subject using local talent. We need 

alternative learning opportunities; we need Airmen to be able to teach one 

another as they venture into new subject areas and tackle new learning challenges. We will meet this need through collaborative learning. 

Figure 11. Learning through collaboration—face-to-face and online

Within the new learning paradigm, Airmen will be connected with other 

learners and experts in a collaborative forum that allows them to ask questions and get support from others. For younger Airmen and those who have 

embraced the ready collaboration available in social media, this will simply 

mark the Air Force’s “catching up with the times.” For most of the older generation, however, this is the beginning of a new age of connectedness for Airmen. It is the ability to “crowd source” answers to troubling issues, to gain 

invaluable insights from experts who have “been there and done that,” and 

even to commiserate with other Airmen who have had to recover from setbacks and reconsider their approaches to overcoming obstacles. This, however, is only the start. Where else might we go in the future?
14

Innovations

One innovation that will leverage collaborative learning in areas where 

there is an absence of local expertise are our developmental special experiences (DSE), which are immersive learning experiences that place Airmen 

into situations where they can experience the full gamut of real-world events 

specific to desired learning outcomes. For instance, if the Air Force needs air 

operations center (AOC) expertise, sending Airmen to actually work in a 

functional AOC might be invaluable in imparting the necessary knowledge 

and skills to ensure future success. Similarly, we might send Airmen to work 

with the Army’s III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas, to study predeployment planning as that unit prepares for a deployment. DSEs may be as short as a few 

days or as long as an assignment. We are working to build a catalog of DSEs 

that leaders can use to ensure their Airmen have the competencies they need 

to execute their missions effectively. Still, there are other learning opportunities we are considering as well.

For over a decade now, leaders at this command have been pursuing live, 

virtual, constructive (LVC) learning opportunities.12 In broad terms, live refers to reality—real people in real applications using real equipment. It is how 

we perform a lot of Air Force training today. Virtual refers to real people in 

simulated environments. This could be an Airman controlling an avatar in a 

virtual world. Constructive is characterized by computer-generated entities—

people, systems, and environments/scenarios. The strength of LVC learning is 

when you put the three together.

Imagine that you are a pilot, flying your aircraft into a training range. You 

look over your shoulder, and there is your wingman. Only your wingman really isn’t there. It is merely a hologram, projected inside your helmet. The pilot 

of that plane, with whom you are coordinating your mission, is actually operating a simulator many miles away. She sees you in her helmet though, just as 

she sees the same terrain, the same threats, and the same opportunities you 

see. Both of you are also connected to a tactical air control party (TACP) who 

is helping to call in a strike. Only that TACP does not exist in the real world. 

It is a computer-generated entity, and so are the enemy aircraft and surfaceto-air missile systems massed against you. This is a sample of how, through 

the use of LVC, we will save resources yet create realistic, challenging, learning opportunities for our Airmen.

We will be able to create similar levels of reality in a variety of learning 

scenarios. For instance, we might create disaster scenarios with mass casualties and toxic environments for medical personnel. Similarly, we will be able 

to construct virtual warehouses and flight lines to support Airmen working in 
15

these environments. We will even be able to create base attacks and crime 

scenes for our security forces, with the virtual scenario all overlaid on our 

Airmen’s real working environments.

Not only will these scenarios provide us a tremendous level of reality, challenging our people to refine their skills and expertise, but LVC will also provide us a heretofore unavailable level of agility. As we build these LVC scenarios, we can plug-and-play virtual or actual entities into our learning events 

as needed to meet training requirements. For instance, we could schedule 

recurring scenarios, inviting all of those who need refresher training to join 

into an exercise. We could also deliver these learning opportunities at remote 

locations to keep our Airmen current in their knowledge and skills even while 

far from their home bases.

This future is closer than you may think. The Air Force Cryptologic Office 

(AFCO) of the 25th Air Force has been working with AETC to adapt some of 

these innovations into their training. The AFCO’s short video “Mixed Reality 

Training” is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-hjBmEz6EE, 

which will introduce you to some of these concepts.

Another concept that is emerging among innovators in learning is the use 

of artificial intelligence (AI) to support learning. Often referred to as “intelligent tutors,” the AI program rides in the background of the self-paced learning experience, questioning the student or presenting challenges to ensure 

learning effectiveness, then selecting and presenting content based on the 

learner’s specific strengths and weaknesses. In a sense, the intelligent tutor is 

learning alongside the learner—learning about the learner’s needs. If a learner 

demonstrates a mastery in the configuration and employment of a certain 

subsystem, for instance, the intelligent tutor verifies and records the level of 

mastery demonstrated and then moves the student to new, more challenging 

material—all within the framework of either the Air Force or user-defined 

guidelines for subject matter. This has already proven very effective.

As the price for AI capabilities has declined, the likelihood that we will be 

able to leverage AI in a wide variety of learning opportunities has increased 

significantly. Further, coupling AI with LVC allows the constructive entities 

to react reasonably to learners’ prompts without costly interventions by instructors.

Sometimes these intellectual forays into cutting-edge learning technology 

are misperceived as veiled attempts to eliminate teachers from the learning 

equation. That is absolutely wrong. These technologies free teachers from the 

more routine aspects of transferring knowledge to the more complicated and 

ultimately rewarding requirements to assess higher-order thinking and provide constructive feedback. A machine can tell us we know our colors and can 
16

draw lines and shapes. It takes a human to recognize whether the results of 

our labor constitute “art” or not. Critical, creative, strategic thinking remains 

in the realm of the human mind. As we free our outstanding instructional 

force from traditional knowledge-transfer responsibilities, we will liberate 

them to accompany their students to these higher levels of learning.

Figure 12. A continuing need for human instructors to mentor, coach, and 

guide

A final area where technology will help us is in tracking learning. Currently, we track learning in terms of the classes/programs attended and, to a 

lesser extent, the grade(s) earned, if any. We currently do not track what Airmen know and can do. We make conjectures on what Airmen know and can 

do based on where they have been and what they have done, but we have very 

strong evidence that this approach is unreliable.

If we are serious about creating and sustaining lifelong learners, we have to 

support those learners by tracking their accomplishments. Although our Airmen would gladly take on that task in support of our Air Force and its Airmen, it is just too much to ask. We need to leverage technology to track learning for us.

The intelligent tutor concept we described above does this. We can also do 

this within the LVC environment. The next task is to find a means for tracking 

this learning within other learning situations. Linking electronic assessments 

to the ALR is one way to achieve this. Another is to create apps that can reside 

on handheld devices that allow teachers to record student learning rapidly, 
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without the need for lengthy reporting or paperwork. So, we are looking at 

these technological innovations as well.

It is both fair and accurate to state none of this will happen overnight. 

Change of this magnitude is neither quick nor easy. It requires leadership support, resourcing, and the expertise necessary to implement these solutions. 

We have met all of those requirements!

Conclusion

Our Secretary and Chief of Staff are 100 percent behind us. They approved 

the redesigned Continuum of Learning and reinforced their commitment 

with a decision to empower a single Force Development Commander with 

enterprise-level oversight over the entire developmental paradigm. We will 

discuss this new position in a future article, but for now, it is important to 

note the demonstrated commitment to developing Airmen inherent in this 

decision.

Figure 13. The Secretary of the Air Force and the CSAF are 100 percent behind 

enhanced learning

We are also receiving resources to achieve success in this mission. AETC 

has already pulled its entire leadership team together to start implementing 

these changes and is redistributing resources to expedite success. At the same 

time, resources are being allocated to address some of the specific innovations 

we have discussed in this article. Manpower remains the critical shortage; 

however, we are leveraging available financial resources to procure needed 

expertise through some very agile contracting vehicles, also created to aid in 

transforming force development.

It is very likely that Airmen at every level will experience aspects of the 

redesigned Continuum of Learning within the next two years. We expect to 

have our learning ecosystem online in 2018 and the ALR online within the 
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following 12 months. Additionally, we are already in the process of “converting” some courses and programs, leveraging Continuum of Learning concepts to enhance learning effectiveness. It is an exciting time to be at Air Education and Training Command!

As excited as we are about the innovations ahead, we want you to know 

that we are 100 percent sure that we will not get this 100 percent right on the 

first iteration. We are creating data-analytics functions to measure progress 

and to give us data on comparative approaches. As good as data-driven decision making is, however, it will never replace the human appreciation for 

what works best—for what is “art!”

We want your input as much as we want your direct support for these innovations.13 We are setting up a blog through which you can reach us to share 

your ideas, reactions, and insights. You can also identify yourself as a locallevel instructor candidate for supporting the Chief ’s effort to revitalize Air 

Force squadrons! The bottom line is this: This entire reinvention of Air Force 

learning is about you and all the Airmen with whom we serve. You are an 

important part of this effort no matter where or how you serve. If you want to 

assist in implementation, we welcome you aboard!14

Notes

1. Human Capital Annex to the USAF Strategic Master Plan, May 2015, A-5, http://www.af

.mil/Portals/1/documents/Force%20Management/Human_Capital_Annex.pdf ?time

stamp=1434024283105.

2. USAF Strategic Master Plan, 2015, 7.

3. Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, “Air Force Senior Leaders Unveil New Priorities,” USAF (website) 2 Aug 2017, http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1264852

/air-force-senior-leaders-unveil-new-priorities/.

4. Gen David Goldfein, “The Beating Heart of the Air Force ... Squadrons!,” CSAF Focus 

Area (newsletter), August 2016, http://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/csaf/letters/CSAF

_Focus_Area_Squadrons.pdf; and Gen David Goldfein, “Strengthening Joint Leaders and 

Teams,” CSAF Focus Area (newsletter), October 2016, http://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents

/csaf/letters/16%2010%2013%20Focus%20Area%20II.pdf?ver=2016-10-13-105649-460&

timestamp=1476371621707.

5. James Mattis, , Secretary of Defense Memorandum, “Administrative and Personnel Policies to Enhance Readiness and Lethality,” 21 July 2017.

6. James Mattis, “Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis House Armed Services Committee Written Statement for the Record,” 12 Jun 2017, http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015c-9f04-d0

70-a57d-fffe4c600001.

7. The Army innovations in learning are detailed in Elaine M. Raybourn, Sae Schatz, Jennifer Vogel-Walcutt, and Kendy Vierling, “At the Tipping Point: Learning Science and Technology as Key Strategic Enablers for the Future of Defense and Security” (conference paper, Interservice Industry Training Simulation & Education Conference, December 2017), 3. See also 
19

TRADOC Pamphlet 525-8-2, The US Army Learning Concept for Training and Education, 

2020–2040, April 2017, http://www.tradoc.army.mil/tpubs/pams/tp525-8-2.pdf. 

8. Raybourn et al, 4. Details on the Sailor 2025 program are available at: http://www.public

.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/talentmanagement/Documents/sailor_2025_glossy_11jan17.pdf.

9. Raybourn et al, 5–6. 

10. The DADLAC is being formalized in a revision to DoDI 1322.26, Development, Management, and Delivery of Distributed Learning. The impact of this reference on the DADLAC 

specifically and on distributed learning in general is discussed at “DoDI 1322.26 Reference,” 

ADLnet.gov (website), https://www.adlnet.gov/dodi. The MECC is defined in CJCSI 1800.01, 

Officer Professional Military Education Policy, 29 May 15, Enclosure C. The EMERC is defined 

in CJCSI 1805.01b, Enlisted Professional Military Education Policy, 15 May 15, Enclosure C.

11. AFSCs are five-character specialty identifiers. The first number describes the career 

group. There are nine Air Force Career Groups: 1-Operations; 2-Maintenance/Logistics; 3-Support; 4-Medical/Dental; 5-Legal/Chaplain; 6-Finance/Contracting; 7-Special Investigations; 

8-Special Duty Assignments; and 9-Special Reporting Identifiers. The second character (letter) 

identifies the career field. The third character (numeral) indicates the career field subdivision 

(i.e., job functional area). The fourth character identifies an Airman’s skill-level. Airmen receive the “1” (helper) skill level when they enter technical school for the AFSC. Upon graduation, they earn the “3” (apprentice) skill level. Individuals are normally awarded the “5” (journeyman) skill level after a period of on-the-job training (OJT) and career-development courses 

(CDC), normally completed via distance learning. Upon promotion to staff sergeant, Airmen 

enter training for the “7” (craftsman) skill level. This training consists of more CDCs, more 

OJT, and for some AFSCs, completion of a resident-training program. Upon promotion to E-8, 

Airmen receive a “9” (superintendent) skill level.

12. Gen William R. Looney, “On Learning: The Future of Air Force Education and Training” (AETC white paper, 30 January 2008), http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/aetc/afd-08

0130-066.pdf.

13. To contact the Continuum of Learning team, you may send e-mails to AETC.A5S.Workflow@us.af.mil.

14. For more information on the project, visit the Continuum of Learning website: http://

www.aetc.af.mil/Continuum-of-Learning/; and the AETC internal Continuum of Learning 

toolkit: https://eis.aetc.af.mil/HQ/cc/cag/Continuum%20of%20Learning%20Conference

/Forms/AllItems.aspx.