The Air Force Starts Here

Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team sits down to talk all things RAT with Col. Rick Kend, 375th Air Mobility Wing deputy commander at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, along with Lt. Col. Johnathan McGill, Mobility Air Force division chief at HAF/A3 in the Pentagon who oversees the RAT portfolio as part of his duties, and Bob Remey, HQ AETC Training branch chief, whose team has developed RAT training for the enterprise. The trio talk about the strategic why behind RAT training, how it works in concert with the five drivers of change, specifics inside the ready training areas, and a look behind how wings and major commands could implement RAT in line with the Air Force Force Generation (AFFORGEN) presentation model and Agile Combat Employment. There is also a call for feedback from the field on how to improve RAT.

Chief Master Sgt. Stefan Blazier, Air University command chief, sits down with Chief Master Sgt. Lee Hoover, 42nd Air Base Wing command chief, and discusses Hoover's decision to join the military, highlights and favorite assignments during his career, why he stayed in the Air Force, and the importance of family and loving them today.

Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team spoke virtually with Mr. Harold Ward, director of the Air Force Culture and Language Center at Air University, discussing how language, regional expertise and culture education helps the Air Force to fly, fight and win by enabling the agile combat employment concept, commonly referred to as ACE.

Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team spoke virtually with Capt. Ashley Bird, 33rd Flying Training Squadron executive officer at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, about her journey to the military through ROTC at Purdue University, the path to becoming a pilot, the pros and cons of being a force generator instructor pilot, and her personal life being military married to military. Bird also talks about rated diversity improvement, which is the Air Force’s focused, long-term effort to attract, recruit, develop, and retain a diverse rated leadership corps.

Airmen across the service can hear first-hand about upcoming changes to enlisted professional military education being made to develop the combat-ready Airmen we need for today’s strategic competition environment is the focus of the latest episode of "The Air Force Starts Here," released Aug. 24, 2022. Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team spoke with Chief Master Sgt. Josh Lackey, command chief at Air University’s Barnes Center, about the effort to help build multi-capable Airmen who are agile, critical thinkers with the ability to act in a disaggregated environment separated from command and control elements. This ties directly to Air Force Doctrine Publication 1, released last year, that notes the need for Airmen to be able to operate in the mission command construct.

Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team talks with Dr. Lauren Scharff, U.S. Air Force Academy professor of behavioral science, and John Reifenberg, AETC force development policy specialist, about the science behind both the growth and fixed mindsets, how the Academy and AETC are incorporating the growth mindset into training and education, and how it applies to organizations.

On this episode of the Air Force Starts Here podcast, Lt. Gaby Gosco from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team sits down with Floyd McKinney and Demetrius Stewart from the HQ AETC Learning Services division to discuss myTraining. The myTraining system, "powered by myLearning," is replacing the Total Force Training Record, or TFTR, for Airmen and Guardians and provides the capability through 21st Century learning tools to manage the training lifecycle for Total Force personnel.

On this episode of the Air Force Starts Here Podcast we discuss the Arnold Group, Air Education and Training Command's premier think tank, and their role of serving as the catalyst for innovation, pooling their wide experience to produce studies and answer the hard-hitting questions on Force Development and the future of education and training.

On episode 59 of "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast, Miriam Thurber from the Air Education and Training Command team speaks with Brig. General Shawn Campbell and Dr. Alex Barelka on the Air Force's foundational competency, Developing Organizations.

On episode 58 of the “The Air Force Starts Here” podcast, Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs teams talks with Dana Horn from the HQ AETC/A3PB Learning Professional branch about the recent launch of their learning professionals communities of practice. Topics discussed include the why and how the Communities of Practice on MilSuite have been formed to support the continuous learning of learning, how the communities of practice came about after collaboration with others on the AETC staff revealed a gap in developmental information, the collaborative aspect of development, and much more.