The Air Force Starts Here

DAWN-ED is a Department of the Air Force-funded degree program that provides up to 15 eligible Airmen and Guardians an opportunity to pursue a master’s degree or doctorate from a university of choice. Officers have until June 25, 2021, to apply for the 2022 academic year.

Tune in to episode 48 of "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast, to learn more about the application process. Dr. Steven Hansen, DAWN-ED program manager, provides specifics on the program and application process. Capt. Ciara Figliuolo, from the 558th Flying Training Squadron and participant in the DAWN-ED master’s program last year, who will attend Carnegie Mellon University’s Master of Science in artificial intelligence and innovation program is also a guest on the podcast.

In episode 48 of "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast, we celebrate Women’s History Month 2021 with four of the first-ever women to graduate Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training here in 1977.

Capt. Kayshel Trudell from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team spoke with these trailblazers from UPT class 77-08.

Joining the discussion was retired Col. Kathleen Cosand and retired Lt. Cols Mary Donahue, Sandra Scott and Mary Livingston who attended UPT from August 1976 to September 1977. These women left their mark on the pages of history and have opened doors for women pilots and Airmen for generations to come. Diversity in all forms makes the Air Force better and it’s more than race, gender and ethnicity, it’s about leveraging unique strengths, perspectives and experiences. Women serving past, present and future bring unique warfighting capabilities to our nation.

On episode 47 of "The Air Force Starts Here," Staff Sgt. Keith James from the Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs team sat down with Chief Master Sgt. Erik Thompson, AETC command chief to discuss the importance of force generators. Force Generators consist of recruiters, instructors and training leaders. These voluntary assignments are demanding opportunities, but offer positive career broadening experiences for Airmen to mature and grow as leaders.

On episode 46 of the "The Air Force Starts Here" Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs team sat down with Floyd McKinney, Adam Rusmussen and Lt. Col. Hien Nguyen from the HQ AETC/A3G to talk in-depth about "myLearning." The new secure learning management system (LMS) will enable student learning, automation and reporting for roughly 800,000 Total Force users in three phases, with the first phase consisting of a modernized and interactive training platform that allows Airmen to access training modules previously found on the Advanced Distributed Learning Service (ADLS). The LMS is part of Air Education and Training Command’s efforts to aggressively and cost-effectively modernize education and training to develop the Airmen we need.

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas - In episode 45 of "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast, we discuss a new force development tool for Air and Space Force professionals to grow professionally.

The Developmental Special Experience (DSE) Catalog is a consolidated list of available learning activities outside the scope of formal training. It simplifies research efforts to find training opportunities available to Airmen and Guardians like internships, fellowships or developmental special duties.

The Catalog is a single resource that can assist with personal development and integrate DSEs into Air and Space professionals’ career goals as a short term objective or long term career goal.

Dan Hawkins from the Air Education and Training Command public affairs team spoke virtually with Maj. Kevin Hawkins and 1st Lt. Adam Treece from the 56th Operational Support Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, who along with Dylan Kerr, a student at Arizona State University, about their creation of a 3-D augmented reality system that will revolutionize the way pilots conduct mission debriefs. As part of AETC’s Spark Tank finalist team that will represent the command at Spark Tank 2021 coming up in Feb. 26-28, 2021, during the virtual Air Force Association Aerospace Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Maj. Hawkins and Treece talk about how they adapted Microsoft HoloLens2 smart-glasses into a tool aircrews can use to conduct detailed mission debriefs from an interactive, three-dimensional perspective. Treece also talks about how the Spark Tank competition is a huge part of how the command values innovation and operationalizing Airmen’s best ideas to improve operations.

In episode 43 of "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast, we commemorate Four Chaplains Day, Feb. 3, 2021, and highlight the dedication of the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps to the resiliency of all Airmen.

In this episode of the Air Force Starts Here podcast we discuss the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine with Maj. Gen. (Dr.) John DeGoes, commander of the 59th Medical Wing.

In episode 41 of "The Air Force Starts Here" podcast we look back in history at the Air Force’s role in space here with AETC History and Museums Program Director, Mr. Gary Boyd, and AETC historian Mr. Rudy Purificato.

Randolph Air Force Base has a history steeped in space innovation, which all occurred in Building 661. Building 661 was home to the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and inaugurated the world’s first Department of Space Medicine in 1949.

While there, many space firsts occurred like the first simulated fight to the moon, training of the first primates to go into sub-orbit and orbit -as well as the development of pressurized and heat resistant space suits.

The Airman’s Foundational Competencies are categorized into four major groups: Developing Self, Developing Others, Developing Ideas and Developing Organizations. Twenty-two competencies were approved last summer, two more were approved last month, and there are more competencies on the horizon.

In this podcast we speak with Mr. Jamal Qaiyym, Branch Chief of the Foundational Competencies, and Dr. Laura Barron, Industrial Organizational Psychologist.