Seminar delivers 'transfusion' to senior Air Force executives Published Oct. 22, 2007 By Carl Bergquist Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- The Air Force Doctrine Development and Education Center's four-day Senior Executive Seminar held here delivered a "blue-blood transfusion" to civilian executives Oct. 9 through 12. Targeted at senior Air Force civilians not familiar with today's doctrine issues, the course indoctrinated 16 participants filling technical positions across the service on air, space and cyberspace initiatives, joint warfigther roles and the essence of airpower. Part of the course included a one-and-a-half-day exercise involving the joint air estimate process where students experienced campaign planning -- the same training warfighters receive -- along with ways to implement air expeditionary strategies. Air Force instructors brought great topics to the table, said course participant Jim Neighbors, a member of Headquarters Air Force Information Management at the Pentagon. "Discussions about the operational aspects of the service were particularly good," he said. Essentially, the Air Force chief of staff-initiated course is a "bluing" of civilian employees, said Lt. Col. Ira Collier, AFDDEC chief of the flag officer division. "You can't just pull people off the street to do jobs at this level," he said. "Many of the attendees have 25 or more years experience in the military." Though many of the participants are retired blue-suiters, others are senior civilians and retired officers from other services. But in terms of Air Force doctrine, all Air Force civilians are considered Airmen, said Col. Bob Nuanes, course director. Amazed and pleased by the number of participants whose backgrounds were from outside the Air Force, Mark Peterson, the associate director of Air Force Quadrennial Defense Review with a Navy aviation background, said the mixed backgrounds added diversity to the course. "The Air Force is leading the way in joint operations," he said. "One of the highlights for me was learning how the Air Force implements its doctrine through operations." Also enjoying the exposure to Air Force doctrine and culture, retired Army Col. Egon Hawrylak said though he understood military culture, he didn't necessarily understand the Air Force culture. "This is an excellent opportunity to bring the civilian force together and provide a 'blue-blood' transfusion," he said. "I may have been Army once, but now I'm Air Force." Having awareness of the operational issues and understanding how senior civilians support those issues was a "big take-back" for Mr. Neighbors. He said understanding the minds of terrorists is significant because it helps him develop a sense of what's important in terms of focusing on the war on terrorism and supporting the warfighter. "The information about what is happening on the battlefield was very good," he said. "That provided for an interesting curriculum and very engaging interaction in the classroom." Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page