Soldiers experience Air Force military education

  • Published
  • By Emily Reagan
  • Air University Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) --  The Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Gunter Annex here has some new faces among its students: those of Army soldiers.

The Army is back after pulling its students out of other service senior NCO academies in 1998 to teach them exclusively at the Army Senior NCO Academy in Fort Bliss, Texas.

However, with Operation Iraqi Freedom and other global operations, Army officials needed to improve the turnaround of their NCOs' professional military education.

"As long as we're involved in operations in Iraq, it's not feasible to keep our senior leaders out of the field for nine months," said Sgt. Maj. Emmett Johnson Jr., the Army representative in the policy division educational directorate at the Air Force’s senior NCO academy. "We need to get the subject-matter experts through school to get them back into operations."

Even though classes at Fort Bliss were shortened to six months, Army officials made an agreement to re-engage Army students into the Air Force Senior NCO Academy to help meet the need for senior enlisted education.

Based on their abilities for progression and adaptability, 11 sergeant majors were selected to attend with the first class of 2004.

Although missing out on an opportunity to network with their Army peers, these NCOs get the chance to study with Air Force active duty, reservists and guardsmen and a mixture of students from the Coast Guard, Navy and Marines.

"The soldiers attending our academy add to the extremely diverse student population and provide to our students a very broad exposure to the Army and its enlisted force," said Chief Master Sgt. David Andrews, academy commandant. "As the Defense Department continues to operate more and more in the joint realm, experiences that allow our members to learn from, associate with and form professional relationships with soldiers enhances our ability to operate in the (area of responsibility) as a team."

This new class of soldiers is adjusting to the Air Force and ironing out issues to make it easier for Army students to attend in the future.

"We're just getting to know how the Air Force does business," said Sgt. Maj. Jose Torres, a student who carries a notebook filled with new and unfamiliar Air Force acronyms. "The Air Force has been doing it right for a long time. They are highly educated. It's a good experience to be here."

It really is a learning experience for all sides. Not only are the sergeant majors learning about the Air Force as an institution, but they are exchanging their Army knowledge. Academy flight instructors encourage the sergeant majors to share their experiences, expertise and perspectives in the classrooms.

"I had a different perspective on the Air Force before I got here," said Sgt. Maj. Kerry Kolhof. "When we get to this same level (of responsibility), we're all the same. We're all leaders." (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)