Air Education and Training Command (AETC)

The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is the first step in every Airman's Career. Its mission: Find, Recruit, Train, and Educate the Airmen the Nation Needs, is realized through its recruiting service, basic military training, technical training, flight training, and the Air University (AU). AU provides the full spectrum of Air Force education, encompassing precommissioning programs for new officers; graduate programs in specialized military disciplines; progressive, career-long professional military development for officer, enlisted, and civilian Airmen; and specialized programs for U.S. cabinet appointees, senior executive service (SES) civilians, and general officers. The university’s primary operating locations are concentrated on four main military installations. AU’s officer and enlisted PME and officer accessions programs are offered in residence at Maxwell AFB and Gunter Annex in northwest Montgomery, Alabama. AU’s distance-learning PME programs are also developed and maintained by the Maxwell–Gunter campus faculty. The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), AU’s college of engineering, science, and technology, is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; and the Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is located at Edwards AFB, California.  AU strives for diversity, drawing students from all service components of the Department of Defense (DOD), other U.S. government security agencies, and foreign military services from 80 plus nations each year. Air University organizations include, Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education, Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, Ira C. Eaker Center for Professional Development, Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, Squadron Officer College, International Officer School, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, USAF Center for Strategy and Technology, AFIT, USAF TPS, and several support organizations.