WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio - Recognizing the critical link between advanced education and readiness, the Air Force Institute of Technology’s (AFIT) Atmospheric Sciences team and the Weather and Environmental Sciences Officer (WESO) career field team have developed two programs expanding higher education opportunities within the force.
The first program sees the decades-old Basic Meteorology Program, which provides mandatory education for nearly a third of WESO accessions each year, relocated to AFIT after over a decade at the Naval Postgraduate School through the establishment of the 12-month in-residence Basic Meteorology Graduate Certificate Program.
“In addition to this, these teams have enabled qualified students to compete for an additional nine-to-12-month period of study that culminates in a master’s degree in Atmospheric Science or Applied Physics,” said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Chandra Pasillas, AFIT Associate Professor.
In January 2025, the Air Force Education Requirements Board (AFERB) realigned resources for six officers to attend this new master’s degree-granting program.
“The WESO career field manager annually selects eight officers from the field to pursue advanced academic degrees; six of these are for master’s degrees,” said Dr. Steven Hansen, AETC AFERB Administrator. “This new program allows selected students to complete both baseline and advanced competencies at the same time with just a modest additional investment, delivering a more capable Airman to the field sooner.“
Creating this bridge to a master’s degree opportunity for newly accessed WESOs helps improve readiness by mitigating the break in operational assignments later in Airmen’s careers, while delivering advanced technical competencies to the field from the start while shortening the overall period spent out of operational environment.
Other benefits of the initiatives include no additional PCS-to-school costs, while adding to family stability and quality of life for members.
“This program also sets interested members up sooner for pursuing a PhD, enabling the Air Force to have a longer return of investment after degrees are earned,” said Pasillas. “This also mitigates competing priorities for members who historically may have had to decide between pursuing additional education goals and ensuring the traditional officer milestones for promotion such as detachment or flight command, operations officer, and squadron command are met.”
WESO is a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career field grouped with operations-focused career fields like pilot, combat systems officer, cyberspace warfare operations, and operations support (data analytics).
Editor's Note: Dr. Mark Coggins, AETC/A3K, contributed to development of this article.