MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. — Air University’s newest effort to revitalize squadron-level learning and support leaders on the cutting edge of operations rolls out across the Air Force today with the Flight Commander’s Edge program.
Managed by Air University’s eSchool of Graduate Professional Military Education, the Flight Commander’s Edge provides a variety of tools designed to help major command, numbered air force and wing leadership develop and deploy flight-level leadership courses.
“Our biggest challenge was providing expert-level leadership training through an instructional cadre that we would never meet,” said Lt. Col. Rose Stoor, eSchool program manager, referring to the fact that most flight-level leadership courses are conducted at the wing or subordinate unit level.
The eSchool’s solution was to provide discussion-based “experiential” lesson plans that could be customized and taught by anyone. Several iterations of the course have occurred to test out the various concepts and lesson plans, at both Maxwell Air Force Base and Joint Base Charleston.
Focusing on both leadership topics and base-specific content, the curriculum provides lesson plans that can be executed in the classroom by individuals with little or no teaching experience.
Tailorable lesson guides complement the lesson plans. These guides can be customized with insight and perspectives from local senior leaders and base agencies. The eSchool also provides course templates, self-assessments, feedback forms, exercises, handouts and learning aids to speed up the local course design process.
“It is important to remember that this is a wing-level program,” Stoor said. “The Flight Commander’s Edge is designed to help unit (points of contact) quickly field a quality leadership development program to meet local needs.”
An online community is available for course directors at all levels to share information, ask questions and download content. For more information, visit the Flight Commander’s Edge at https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/eSchool/FlightCCEdge/.
