New training supports combatant commander campaign plans

  • Published
  • Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-Randolph, Texas --  Air Education and Training Command's Special Missions Directorate recently completed a pilot program in a joint venture with Air University's LeMay Center Warfighting Education Directorate, delivering the United States Air Force Steady-State Campaign Support Planning Course on-line via the Blackboard learning management system.

The S2CSPC is sponsored by Headquarters Air Force Regional Plans and Posture Division and is designed to educate Air Force planners to support strategy development, and design, plan, prepare, execute and assess steady-state operations and activities in support of combatant commander's campaign plans.

The course was first developed using Advanced Distributed Learning Service computer based-training, but was selected as one of five candidates to be developed into an on-line version as part of a greater Blackboard pilot program currently underway. The Special Missions Directorate acted as an "incubator" to develop the on-line version using existing Interactive Multimedia Instruction courseware, and enriching it with student and instructor interaction within the Blackboard system.

"Student feedback for the course was overall positive," said Dr. John Blumentritt, S2CSPC chairman. "There are definitely areas for continued improvement from this initial version, but the pilot program showed that education and training can be enhanced beyond computer-based training using on-line learning management systems."

The fiscal year 15 pilot program included four course offerings, which were delivered asynchronously over a four week period. Delivery was conducted with the Special Missions Division in a lead role with faculty from the LeMay Center supporting instruction and facilitation.

"It was great to be part of the team that is on the forefront of developing something new for the Air Force," said Master Sgt. Billie Sheppard, LeMay Center instructor. "This is even more important since Steady-State planning is an integral part of the national strategy of partnering with other nations to create global security."

The pilot courses resulted in over 50 graduates and will now enter a second phase in fiscal year 16. The LeMay Center and the Special Missions Division plan to switch roles with LeMay Center taking the lead and AETC providing support for course management and curriculum update.

The goal is to deliver the course six times during the fiscal year 16 phase of the pilot. Future growth potential for the course may be as many as 250 students by fiscal year 18.