Air Force rolls out ‘Foundations’ courses for enlisted development

The U.S. Air Force’s newly launched “Foundations” courses are meant supplement development in the ranks during traditionally slower periods of an airman’s enlistment, the service announced in a press release Monday.

The courses reached full operational capability on July 19 following nine months of testing and training, according to the release. The Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education developed the curriculum as part of the Enlisted Airmanship Continuum, which is meant to guide service member development.

“Some airmen go five or six years between PME courses, which is way too long,” Barnes Center commander Col. Damian Schlussel said in the release. “These courses close that developmental gap by delivering the right content at the right time in an airman’s career.”

Three types of Foundations courses are available, the release said, each with the goal of developing leadership and knowledge of strategic concepts, such as great power competition, according to a report by Air & Space Forces Magazine. There is one course for junior enlisted airmen, one for noncommissioned officers and one for senior NCOs.

The Foundations courses, which are each five days long, will replace base-level professional seminars and will be hosted at every installation operated by the service. The courses will also serve as prerequisites for existing schools, such as the Airmen Leadership School and the NCO Academies, which airmen undergo to successfully rise through the ranks.

Eighty percent of the courses are standardized, according to the release, with the remaining 20% up to the command or wing hosting the course.

Foundations courses have been in development for some time, with the first test runs taking place last October.

Forty-eight representatives across major commands developed the course curriculum in the span of 10 days, the release said. The final course curriculum was then polished via feedback from thousands of airmen across active duty, the Reserve and the Air National Guard.

“Our mission was clear and concise, and our team had support from the top down,” Barnes Center Foundations NCO in charge Tech. Sgt. Kate Hytinen said in the release. “It was a lot of long days, weekends and late nights for the team, but we were able to do it, and do it well.”

Then-Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Joanne D. Bass and then-Air Force Chief of Staff Charles CQ Brown Jr. said in a September 2023 letter to the force that the Enlisted Airmanship Continuum plan would be tailored to improve development opportunities for troops.

The Continuum is first introduced to airmen at basic military training, then supplemented by career field education and training throughout.

“We owe every airman deliberate developmental opportunities throughout their careers to grow and become their very best,” Bass and Brown Jr. said in the letter.

“They will be the difference makers in the future fight, and we are choosing to invest in them now to ensure we remain the Air Force our nation needs.”