Formal education programs across various military educational institutions must adapt to adequately prepare the Joint Force for strategic competition. Is the current content, type, and timing of Professional Military Education (PME) appropriate to meet the evolving requirements of the military, and how can the defense enterprise best develop and nurture creative thinkers within a hierarchical, rules-based organization? Furthermore, how do we best educate military professionals about evolving national strategies, policies, and mandates?
Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum information science promise significant improvements to these educational challenges. How can PME institutions best develop and apply AI algorithms to personalize learning experiences in real-time? Research should investigate the effectiveness of AI tutors, personalized feedback systems, and adaptive learning platforms in improving overall student performance and reducing learning gaps. Looking further into the future, what are the long-term implications of quantum computing to revolutionize educational assessment, personalize learning pathways, and unlock new frontiers in human cognitive enhancement?
Within this broader transformation of military education, how will these changes specifically impact the Special Operations Enterprise (SOE)? What does ‘SOF-peculiar education’ encompass in this high-tech environment, and what are the critical skills required for a joint SOF officer or noncommissioned officer? Finally, as the primary educational institution for SOF, where should the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) focus its efforts? Should JSOU become a traditional service-like school, or should it focus strictly on educating SOF practitioners, nurturing critical thinking, and developing SOF advocates to navigate the impacts of these technological changes?
- Petrushev, Capt. Daniel, "Improving B-1 Flight Instructor Training," SOS AUAR, 2025.
- Petrushev answers this by proposing the integration of "Deliberate Practice" concepts—defined as the repeated performance of tasks with feedback to improve performance—directly into the B-1 flight training curriculum. Rather than training candidates based on the highly subjective opinions of instructors or the unpredictable availability of basic course students to practice on, he recommends utilizing simulator training, which already accounts for 50% of the B-1 FIC training flights. In this sanitized simulator environment, instructor candidates can be systematically trained to recognize, assess, and correct realistic student deviations and flight malfunctions at increasingly difficult benchmarks.
- Robertson, Maj. Jordan K., "Timing the Test: An Alternative Timeline for the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test for Accessions through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps," AFGC thesis, 2025.
- The AUTL questions whether the content, type, and timing of military education and training are appropriate to meet current requirements. While the AUTL frames this around Special Operations Forces, Robertson answers the core question of educational and assessment timing for the conventional Air Force. She highlights that the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes measured by the AFOQT do not align with the actual learning objectives required of upperclassman cadets. Because the current testing timeline forces AFROTC to make personnel decisions based on misaligned data, she argues that shifting the AFOQT to a pre-commissioning requirement would ensure the assessment is utilized at the most relevant and actionable point in an officer's educational lifecycle.