Here’s a first for Hovering Over Send!  Guest blogger Mark Ables weighs in…….

Cultural change is a confounding challenge.  Let’s look at how far we’ve come in one area which I see no turning back on now.  I don’t know which CSAF (Chief of Staff of the Air Force)  decided that unmasking education in officer PRF/OPR’s  would promote airmen to continue pursuing higher education which nobody can argue isn’t good.  But when that happened, officers could no longer assume they’d make rank without PME or higher degrees.  Continuing education is essential, no dispute.   However, for our junior officers, when did outside education become more important than their Primary AFSC?  How many of you commanders have witnessed a young Lieutenant or junior Captain forging off getting higher degrees at the expense of their primary job?  Can you honestly say that today’s Air Force pilots (I can’t speak for other career fields) are as proficient, skilled or as immersed in their craft as we were 20 years ago?  Good or bad, I don’t know but it’s quite clear that command leadership has set in motion a trend which I think will pay dividends however we are experiencing some unintended consequences.  The Air Force isn’t a private corporation and our challenges are different than GE, Ford or Verizon.  Can someone answer this question;

Who is our customer?  and I don’t mean the military’s customer; the American people, I mean you the plodders, the AF workforce, who is your customer?? And for gosh sakes, not everyone is destined to be a commander.  There is honor in being the very best cook, civil engineer,  wrench turner or pilot!

Today’s  Junior Officers know that  in order to remain competitive for retention, being the best at whatever their AFSC won’t be enough, they’ll need to complete not only PME (Professioanl Military Education) but higher educational degrees.  Problem is, they’re off and running getting useless masters degrees before they are good at the jobs they were originally trained  to do and the reasons they joined the AF to begin with in many cases was to do that job.  General Welsh made a comment about this topic in a recent forum and I wonder what kind of detour the cultural shift will experience under his leadership, should be interesting.

Thanks Mark!