Commander's vision for AETC outlined in learning transformation document

by Staff Sgt. Clinton Atkins
Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs

3/18/2013 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- Air Education and Training Command officials created a document that provides an in-depth look into the commander's vision for the future.

The document, "An AETC Vision for Learning Transformation," was designed to provide information on the way ahead to anyone affected by changes within AETC about why and how the command will transform its education and training capabilities to meet future demands while operating in an increasingly-constrained fiscal environment.

The 23-page vision contains two chapters. The first chapter describes the vision and shows how learning should look for the Air Force in the future, and the second chapter provides examples of how the vision will look in Airmen's careers. Hypothetical timelines were used as examples of how the vision will look in several typical Airmen's careers.

"(The vision) should guide people's thinking about how we can deliver our product in a time of scarce resources by doing things differently," said A.J. Ranft, AETC chief learning officer.
"It's important for (AETC Airmen) to understand where we are going," he said. "I think it's very important for them to understand we just don't have the money and the resources to continue to do things the way we are. Transformation is not an option, it's a requirement. So think differently about how you do your job, because that's what it's going to take for us to continue."

Ranft said other MAJCOMs and even other services and federal departments may benefit from reading the outlined vision as well.

"Other MAJCOMs, who have a stake in the product that we deliver, care about the product of pilot training and they care about the product of technical training," he said. "It's to let them know we are keenly interested in providing them with a better graduate, but being able to maintain the production numbers that we have."

Ranft said the vision needs to be communicated down to the lowest level, because that's where the change truly takes effect.

"We have an opportunity now, within AETC and the Air Force, to transform how we deliver education and training," said Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr., AETC commander. "This opportunity is driven by a future environment with more constrained resources and enabled by modern advances in technology and learning methodologies. By leveraging this opportunity, we can change the paradigm of how we deliver education and training to our Airmen so that it is more effective, more personalized, and more persistent and will likely save resources by being more efficient."