COMMENTARY >> Planes, trains and automobiles: Educating mobility warriors

By Lt. Col. Nathan Allerheiligen
314th Airlift Wing director of readiness


Creating Combat Airlifters is only part of the Air Mobility community’s larger mission. We must also educate our brightest officers and NCOs in the higher arts of mobility management.

Far beyond just executing tactical airlift missions, the nation’s great mobility machine is powered and managed by US Transportation Command and the Defense Logistics Agency to provide men, equipment, and material to support combatant commanders worldwide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, in peaceful, hostile and open combat environments.
In order to create that cadre of elite mobility warriors, the Air Mobility Command has partnered with Air Force Institute of Technology to create advanced education programs targeting mobility management, logistics operations, and supply chain theory.

The Advanced Study of Air Mobility program at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center is an intermediate developmental education program that provides a masters of air mobility during a 13-month long program for select Majors.
In addition to an AFIT accredited advanced degree, the 12 to 16 students receive briefings from combatant and major command commanders, tours of all unified combatant commands and interface with the premier companies in the mobility and supply-chain management fields.

Selection for ASAM follows the IDE selection cycle and process.

NCOs have recently been added to the pool of educated mobility warriors through the Enlisted-to-AFIT program.
This year, six NCOs were selected to receive advanced degrees from AFIT, two of them in Logistics Management.
The annual selection process begins in February with results announced by early April.

Continual education is at the core of any profession. Ensuring that Airmen obtain advanced degrees is a critical requirement to keeping our nation’s mobility machine running smoothly and efficiently.

Although the highlighted programs are extremely competitive, there are many other methods to obtain advanced degrees.
Go to http://www.afit.edu in order to research the many opportunities provided by the Air Force.