Our nation’s defense can be only as strong as the minds of its leaders, and we have the opportunity to strengthen those minds through education. As the most technically sophisticated and powerful air, space and cyberspace force in the world, we cannot sustain the level of leadership or the degree of strategic vision necessary to effectively command such a force without appropriate professional education. Training will provide airmen with the expertise necessary to operate the advanced technologies we have and will continue to acquire in the 21st century. These technologies provide a vast array of capabilities that are available to air, space and cyberspace war fighters and leaders in support of national defense. How innovatively our war fighters use these capabilities, and how effectively our leaders can synthesize them in ways that produce effective operational and strategic outcomes are abilities that can only be acquired through deliberate, planned education. Generating and sustaining innovation and clear thinking about the synthesis of capabilities requires the kind of reflective, high-level thinking that lies at the heart of Air Force professional education. Its importance in the 21st century Air Force cannot possibly be overstated.