About Us
The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight, and win...airpower anytime, anywhere. The enduring mission of Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is to provide multi-capable Airmen needed to deter war and provide for the security of our nation – the force required to fly, fight, and win with the competencies to operate anytime and anywhere, including in conflict against any peer competitor. AETC prepares the USAF’s most important weapon system – Airmen and Guardians – through Force Development (FD).
FD is a holistic, learner-centered approach that deliberately connects Airmen’s training, education and experiences throughout their careers to Develop the Airmen We Need (DAWN) in order to succeed in complex, multi-domain operational environments.
AETC initiates FD of new Airmen (through recruitment, initial/basic, technical, and aircrew training), provides specialized FD of Airmen (through various upgrade and professional military education and training programs), and provides capabilities, experience, and support to other MAJCOMs to ensure continued development of Airmen to increase lethality and readiness of the Joint Force.
To further support the DAWN strategy, we are developing the 21st century digital resume for Airmen and Guardians through credentialing and digital badges. The 21st century digital resume is a digital footprint of an Air and Space Professional’s progressive, competency-based learning accomplishments. The credentialing efforts help commanders identify capability gaps, and with the help of new technology, commanders will be able to quickly identify those multi-talented Airmen and Guardians who can act as force multipliers. This ability will be crucial to our success in a future environment which includes both Great Power Competition and Irregular Warfare.
Our efforts have been instrumental in the developmental beginnings of a digital badging system to recognize Airmen's and Guardians' competency-based knowledge, skills, and abilities to be used by internal and external audiences.