Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Newsroom

    Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders   AFITJune2015AFITJune2015
                        
                        
                        The Air Force Institute of Technology, or AFIT, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the Air Force’s graduate school of engineering and management as well as its institution for technical professional continuing education. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
 Air Force Institute of TechnologyThe Air Force Institute of Technology, with its main campus located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the Department of the Air Force’s leader for advanced, multi-disciplinary academic education, as well as its institution for technical professional continuing education. A component of Air University and Air Education and Training Command, AFIT is committed to providing innovative, defense-focused graduate education and related research, and operationally-relevant professional continuing education to sustain the technological supremacy of America’s air, space, and cyber forces.  Since 2008, AFIT has been designated as the Air Force’s Cyber Technical Center of Excellence.

AFIT is a wing-equivalent unit of more than 500 military and civilian faculty and staff. It accomplishes its mission through four schools: the Civil Engineer School, the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, the School of Systems and Logistics, and the School of Strategic Force Studies. Through its Civilian Institutions Program Office, AFIT also manages the educational programs of Airmen enrolled at more than 350 civilian universities, research centers, teaching hospitals, and industrial organizations.

AFIT has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1960.  In addition, the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET accredits several AFIT master’s engineering programs.  Since graduate degrees were first granted in 1956, AFIT has awarded 20,191 master’s and 961 Doctor of Philosophy degrees.  In addition, Air Force students attending civilian institutions have earned more than 50,000 undergraduate and graduate degrees in the past 20 years.  AFIT provides professional continuing education to an average of 30,000 students each year.

AFIT is home to the D’Azzo Research Library with a physical holding of more than 75,000 titles.  Through online databases and journal subscriptions, students and faculty have access to several thousand journal titles, conference proceedings and e-books for their research. Library facilities are shared with the Air Force Research Laboratory and collaboration efforts provide wider access to electronic resources at affordable cost and the best term of licenses.



**Mission**
Educate our Total Force military and civilian defense professionals to innovatively accomplish the deterrence and warfighting missions of the U.S. Air and Space Forces ... today and tomorrow.

We accomplish this mission by providing Airmen with world-class defense-focused and research-enabled advanced academic education, and career-long professional continuing education both on-command and on-demand. AFIT delivers graduate education in STEM; provides graduate education program management to the medical, line, legal and chaplain corps; delivers professional continuing education to civil engineers, space, nuclear, acquisition, and logistics professionals; conducts cutting-edge research in many areas including cyber, directed energy, hypersonics, stealth, navigation and space; and provides consultation and analysis support services.



**Vision**
AFIT is widely-known and greatly-respected as:

A premier institution for defense-focused education, research and consulting assistance
 The student’s first choice for advanced academic education and career-long professional continuing education
 A  great place to serve**Advanced Academic Education**

**The Civilian Institutions Program Office** manages the largest part of AFIT’s advanced academic education enterprise.  Approximately 2,500 students are enrolled in a variety of health profession programs (e.g., medical, dental, nursing, biomedical, etc.) and another 1,000 line, legal and chaplain officers are enrolled in various programs at leading civilian universities and research centers.  The office also manages the Air Force’s Education With Industry (EWI) program, through which about 40-50 military and civilian Airmen annually spend a year with companies to learn industry best-practices and bring those practices back to the Air Force.  Contact Col Thomas Brown (thomas.brown@afit.edu) and/or Mr. Luke Whitney (luke.whitney@afit.edu) or visit www.afit.edu/CIP for more information.

**The** **Graduate School of Engineering and Management** is a nationally-recognized, Carnegie-classified High Research Activity doctoral institution and is the sole degree-granting entity at AFIT. The school provides graduate degrees and certificates in engineering, applied science, mathematics and management. It provides students with several significant advantages including a more personalized educational experience; academic programs with a defense-related focus; and research on high-priority defense problems. The school maintains a typical enrollment of over 700 in-residence students and about 400 students in various non-resident programs.

AFIT’s Graduate School maintains a strong applied-research focus through its eight multi-disciplinary research centers: Autonomy and Navigation Technology Center, Center for Directed Energy, Center for Cyberspace Research, Center for Operational Analysis, Center for Technical Intelligence Studies and Research, Center for Space Research and Assurance, and the Nuclear Expertise for Advancing Technologies Center. The Graduate School is also the home of the Office of the Secretary of Defense sponsored Center for Scientific Test and Analysis Techniques in Test and Evaluation, which supports more than 40 major acquisition programs in all four military services.  Contact ENE_Admissions@afit.edu or visit www.afit.edu/EN for more information.



**Professional Continuing Education (PCE)**

**The Civil Engineer School** provides technical and management oriented PCE courses to more than 8,800 students a year in a variety of subject areas to prepare officer, enlisted, and civilian professionals to be more efficient and effective in current and future assignments in the CE fields.  The school offers more than 90 professional continuing education courses designed to meet the specific needs of thousands of civilians, military, and contractors in the Department of the Air Force and joint services.  The Civil Engineer School provides technical engineering, environmental, asset and engineering management, and expeditionary-focused instruction.  To reach a world-wide audience, it offers in-residence courses, on-site courses, and various modes of distance learning, to include satellite, internet and video teleconferences at Air Force installations world-wide. The school also provides the Initial Skills Training for all newly-commissioned CE officers and PALACE ACQUIRE interns.  Contact Col Laurie Richter (Laurie.Richter@afit.edu) or visit www.afit.edu/CE  for more information.

**The** **School of Systems and Logistics** is the Air Force's provider of PCE courses in the areas of data analytics, acquisition management, contracting, financial management, logistics management, and systems and software engineering. With more than 155 courses and seminars, the school plans, develops, and conducts courses and programs to satisfy the technical management educational needs of acquisition, contracting, and logistics customers from the Department of the Air Force, DoD, and other federal agencies. Faculty teach an average of 17,900 students a year through in-residence, distance learning, and on-site instruction. 
The school currently offers Air Force courses ranging in length from two days to five weeks. Classes are open to all DoD military and civilian personnel and contractors. Courses are offered in-residence at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH as well as on-site at locations across the U.S. and around the world to DoD students via distance-learning resources. The school is also the leader in web-based education for the acquisition and logistics workforce, providing Airmen with the tools, skills, and abilities to manage the entire spectrum of a systems life cycle.  Additionally, the school annually provides the initial skills education for about 800 newly-commissioned acquisition and contracting officers and newly-hired civilians.  Contact AFIT.LSACourseManager@afit.edu or visit www.afit.edu/LS for more information.

**The School of Strategic Force Studies** (SoSFS) is responsible for delivering PCE in nuclear deterrence policy and theory, nuclear command, control, communication (NC3), and cyberspace operations.  The school’s mission is to develop Airmen, joint service members, and international partners to deter and if necessary, prevail in current and future conflicts by providing relevant and responsive nuclear and cyberspace professional continuing education. On average, SoSFS educates more than 3,000 Department of the Air Force and DoD students annually.

The SoSFS’s Nuclear College, located at Kirtland AFB, NM provides a comprehensive PCE program that prepares Airmen to solve 21st century nuclear deterrence and assurance challenges.

The Academic Partnerships in Nuclear Education Department, headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH administers a special program in which key personnel assigned to the Air Force Nuclear Enterprise pursue certificates and advanced degrees by distance learning from AFIT, the Naval Postgraduate School, and several notable civilian universities.

The NC3 School House located at Barksdale AFB, LA provides introductory to advanced courses that address U.S. NC3 capabilities, system of systems architecture, acquisitions, and deterrence policy.

The Cyberspace PCE Department, located at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH provides courses required for cyber professionals to earn their senior and command operator badges. These courses help develop skilled cyber warriors capable of supporting and fighting in a joint all domain environment.  Contact Mr. Curtis McGiffin (curtis.mcgiffin@afit.edu) or visit www.afit.edu/EX for more information.



**AFIT History**
On November 10, 1919, Colonel Thurman Bane received authorization to begin instruction at the Air School of Application. The following year, the first class of seven officers graduated from the newly-named Air Services Engineering School. Now, more than 100 years later, the Air Force Institute of Technology has awarded more than 20,000 degrees and more than 750,000 people have gone through its continuing education courses.
Some of the most accomplished engineers and scientists in Air Force history are AFIT alumni. Air Force pioneers General George Kenney, General Jimmy Doolittle, and General Bernard Schriever attended AFIT programs prior to the time degrees were conferred.  Major General Donald Lamberson, considered the “father” of high-energy laser weapons, earned his master’s and doctorate degrees at AFIT. Nearly 20 astronauts have earned degrees from AFIT, including U.S. space pioneers Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper – chosen as part of NASA’s Mercury Seven, and Colonel Guy Bluford, the first African-American in space.

As the Department of the Air Force takes on the challenges of multi-domain operations in a complex, dynamic and uncertain national security environment, AFIT’s innovative education, research, and outreach programs are even more important and relevant today.  Now in its second century of operation, AFIT continues to shape the ever changing world of air, space, and cyberspace technology.  While the future promises to be even more challenging than the past, AFIT is prepared to deliver world-class defense-focused, and research-enabled graduate education, professional continuing education, and consultation to sustain the technological supremacy of the United States Air and Space Forces.



*Current as of March 2022; approved for public release; 88ABW-2018-1629; distribution unlimited*
   MORE FACT SHEETS
        Aircraft
        AC-130J Ghostrider
                    
                    AC-130J Ghostrider
                
                AC-130W Stinger II
                    
                    AC-130W Stinger II
                
                C-32
                    
                    C-32
                
                CV22
                    
                    CV-22 Osprey
                
                C-40C
                    
                    C-40B/C
                
                A U.S. Air Force C-37 taxis after landing
                    
                    C-37A/B
                
                C-130 Hercules
                    
                    C-130 Hercules
        RSS
    
    Major Commands
        Air Force Special Operations Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Special Operations Command
                
                Air Force Global Strike Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Global Strike Command
                
                Air Combat Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Combat Command
                
                Air Force Materiel Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Materiel Command
                
                Air Education and Training Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Education and Training Command
                
                Air Mobility Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Mobility Command
        RSS
    
    Weapons
        The Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS), also referred to as the AN/GSQ-272 SENTINEL weapon system, is the Air Force’s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection, processing, exploitation, analysis and dissemination (CPAD) system. 
(U.S. Air Force photo)
                    
                    Air Force Distributed Common Ground System
                
                LGM-30G Minuteman III
                    
                    LGM-30G Minuteman III
                
                Sniper Pod
                    
                    Sniper Pod
                
                LITENING ADVANCE TARGETING
                    
                    LITENING ADVANCE TARGETING
                
                Guardian Angel
                
                Massive Ordnance Penetrator
                
                The AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod contains synthetic aperture radar that provides detailed maps for surveillance, coordinate generation and bomb impact assessment purposes.  It will be operational on the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo)
                    
                    AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod
        RSS  Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil