Beginning in academic year 2025-2026, more top-rated Air Force officers will be vectored and designated to Air University in-residence Intermediate Developmental Education and Senior Developmental Education.
This change is intended to ensure the service has enough officers with the ability to understand and integrate airpower in key leadership roles to meet the strategic and pacing challenges facing our nation.
As a result, for IDE attendees, 60 percent of the top third of officers selected from each career field from the Developmental Education Designation Board will attend Air Command and Staff College in residence, and for SDE attendees, approximately 33 percent of the top third of officers selected from each career field will attend Air War College in residence.
"To ensure deep airpower expertise is available to joint commands, it is essential we send officers with diverse professional backgrounds and experiences, and with the potential to be senior leaders in our Air Force, to our own in-residence programs," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, Jr. in a memo.
The number of billets for DAF officers at joint and sister service schools will remain the same, but the new policy will allow the service to place greater emphasis on airpower schools.
The directorate of manpower and personnel will track the number of officers by career field who decline to attend Air University schools. Those statistics will be part of an annual report to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
"It is imperative that our leaders of tomorrow are rooted in Air Force doctrine so they may leverage airpower to achieve national security objectives and align with the Joint Chiefs of Staff vision and guidance," Brown said.
Recognizing that quality of life is important to members and their families, the service has worked with local leaders in the Maxwell Air Force Base community to improve several school issues. A pilot program will allow off-base members to send children to on-base Department of Defense Education Activity K-8 schools. Additionally, an initiative to support out-of-zone school enrollment is underway.
