"Class of '74 comes back to Maxwell for reunion", by Jenn Rowell, Montgomery Advertiser, 18 Sep 2010

excerpts below from above article

• Twenty-three members of the Air War College class of 1974 are back at Maxwell Air Force Base this weekend.
• It's the first reunion hosted by the Air War College in what organizers hope becomes an an­nual event to bring former stu­dents to visit and meet with cur­rent students.
• The class of 1974 was a large class and included a number of prisoners of war who recently had returned to the U.S.
• Col. Polly Padden is an Air War College faculty member and one of the event organizers. Her father was a member of the class of 1974.
• ...
• This week, he [retired Col. Merritt Pound Jr.] and other members of the 1974 class sat in on some current seminars at Air War College.
• He said he noticed a big change.
• "In 1974 about the most electronic thing we had was the light switch," he said. Now, the classrooms are extensively wired.
• Padden said that the current students are at the peak of their careers. From Air War College, most will go on to leadership po­sitions.
• It's good for them to see the airmen who came before them, Padden said, and also to hear about life after the military.

The Grand Strategy Program is a more intense course of study for officers seeking a deeper understanding of the development and implementation of grand strategy than can be attained through the regular Air War College curriculum. The program examines the historical practice of the strategic art, the challenges of leadership and innovation at the strategic level, the relationship between the military instrument of power and national political objectives, and the interplay of global and regional security trends. The program will commence immediately following the conclusion of the Foundations of Strategy course in early October. Students chosen to participate in the program will form a separate seminar that will meet for the rest of the academic year. To the greatest extent possible this seminar will reflect the joint, interagency and multinational composition of the Air War College student body. Students in the program will participate in the Regional and Cultural Studies with the rest of the Air War College class, but otherwise they will take a separate set of courses from the core curriculum. These courses will cover the same JPME learning areas as the core curriculum, but will include more challenging readings, practical exercises and graded events. The capstone event of the Grand Strategy Program will be a wargame sponsored by the Office of Net Assessment, held in Washington DC in early May 2011. Graduates of the program will receive the same Master of Strategic Studies degree awarded to other Air War College graduates.

Any Air War College student enrolled in the Master’s Degree program may apply to participate in the Grand Strategy Program. Applicants will be required to submit a single-page essay explaining their interest in the program no later than 15 September 2010. In selecting participants, the Grand Strategy Program faculty will consider this essay along with students’ service record, prior academic achievements, and performance in the initial stages of the Air War College curriculum. Finalists may also be asked to attend a short interview with faculty.

The USAF Counterproliferation Center (CPC), in collaboration with the Air Force Research Institute and Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), hosted its 10th annual Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Threats conference at the Air War College (AWC) on August 18-19, 2010. This year's theme, “Avoiding a Nuclear Catastrophe,” brought together AWC students and over 150 attendees from across the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies, as well as industry and academia to:

• Explore the effects of the Nuclear Posture Review and New START treaty on the US nuclear force structure
• Evaluate US nuclear nonproliferation efforts
• Examine trouble issues/areas such as nuclear terrorism, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan
• Analyze the state of deterrence as nuclear arsenals decline, but nuclear-capable nations increase in number

• Mr. William O’Donnell, Associate Director of DTRA, spoke about combating WMD and the role DTRA plays in national defense
• Major General William Chambers, Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, spoke about maintaining deterrence and meeting nuclear force challenges in a changing environment
• Lieutenant General (ret) Trey Obering III spoke about missile defense and deterrence issues
• Dr. Michael Nacht, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs, described the plans and prospects for President Obama’s nuclear weapons agenda
• Mr. Brian Jenkins, Senior Advisor to the president of the RAND Corporation, talked about the threat of nuclear terrorism
• Various other experts from across government and industry talked about stopping nuclear smuggling and about the ambitions of nuclear or near-nuclear countries, including Russia, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan

Air War College hosted this year’s National Security Forum (NSF) 17-21 May. 111 attendees from all across the nation participated. Highlights during the week included:

• Get-Acquainted Dinner: NSF guests, Air War College students and faculty gathered for a mix and mingle buffet dinner at the Officers’ Club.
• Dr. Austin Long, from the Saltzman Institute of War & Peace Studies, spoke about nuclear issues in the Middle East.
• General Norton A. Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, spoke about current Air Force issues.
• Mr. Mark Clancy, Managing Director and Chief Information Security Officer, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, spoke about cyber security.
• Aerial Demonstration and Static Displays: Our aerial demonstration included flyovers by a B-1, and B-2 bombers and demonstrations by the F-16 demonstration team from Shaw AFB, SC, and the A-10 demonstration team from Moody AFB, GA. Our static displays included helicopters (UH-60), fighters (F-15C, F-16, and F-22), a tanker (KC-135), airlift aircraft (C-21 and C-130), trainers (T-1, T-6, and T-38), and a C-182 from the Civil Air Patrol.
• Dr. Daniel Drezner, Professor of International Politics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, spoke about the economic crisis and national security.
• Dr. Andrew Krepinevich, President, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, spoke about the future of air-sea battle.
• The Honorable Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, closed out the NSF as our capstone speaker and he spoke about his vision for the Air Force.

read more about NSF on its website

Attendees of the 57th National Security Forum (17-21 May) had the opportunity to see some of the Air Force’s most impressive flying hardware in action and get an up-close look at static displays when NSF officials presented this year’s aerial demonstration Wednesday.

The annual event is hosted by Air University’s Air War College on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force. It is an opportunity for Air Force members and American civilians to meet and gain appreciation for each others’ prospective and for AWC students to interact with a broad cross section of civilian leaders.

This year, 111 people from all parts of the country attended the program and participated in seminars, discussion groups, social events and addresses that included the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force.

“I always knew the men and women of the Air Force were intelligent, but to sit in the seminars and listen to them has been amazing,” said Diane Blair, who is from Grand Forks, N.D. “It was also really great to hear from the chief of staff of the Air Force and to hear his visions and what issues the Air Force will be facing.”

Click here for the full article in the Maxwell-Gunter Dispatch

Colonel Benjamin Alvin Drew, Jr., 2006 graduate of Air War College (see bio), has been assigned to the crew of the orbiter Discovery for shuttle mission STS-133 (click for mission details), which is scheduled to launch Sept. 16, 2010. From January-November 2009 he served as Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. He has logged over 305 hours in space having completed his first space flight on STS-118 in 2007.

Professors from Air University’s Air War College (AWC) wrapped up a two week visit to Uganda on March 25, 2010 during which they promoted professional military education at the Ugandan Senior Command and Staff College.

Air War College’s Warfighting Department visiting professors Dr. Bert Frandsen and Dr. Roy Houchin delivered eight lectures and exchanged ideas on airpower history, air and space reconnaissance, campaign planning and joint air operations planning with their counterparts at the Ugandan command and staff college. Concurrently, the professors provided the students instruction on USAF capabilities and discussed multinational operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The team also collaborated with the Ugandan military faculty to develop ideas on air operations in irregular warfare for both respective curriculums.

Read news article here

Major General Robert C. Kane assumed command of the Spaatz Center for Officer Education and the Air War College on 22 February 2010. The Spaatz Center directs, integrates, synchronizes and supports a continuum of officer professional education, research and outreach that produces leaders for joint and multinational environments. The Air War College is the Air Force's senior professional military education institution providing post-graduate senior leader development programs focused on joint, multinational, multi-agency warfighting and international security operations, air, space and cyberspace force strategy development and national security planning.

General Kane entered the Air Force in 1979 after receiving his commission through the ROTC program at Grove City College, Pennsylvania. His career has encompassed a wide variety of operational and staff assignments, including commands at the squadron, group and wing levels. The general also served as U.S. Transportation Command liaison officer to Commander-in-Chief United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, U.S. Forces Korea, Yongsan Army Garrison, South Korea and as Vice Commander, 18th Air Force, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. He comes to us from Baghdad, Iraq, where he served as Commanding General of the Coalition Air Force Transition Team responsible to the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq for standing up the Iraqi Air Force. You may view his full Air Force biography at the following link: http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=8166.

On 5 January 2010, our previous Commandant, Major General Maury Forsyth, took command of the LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education from Major General Stephen Miller, who recently retired. Please see the following link for further details: http://www.maxwell.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123184950

We recently hosted our 5th annual alumni outreach program at Davis-Monthan AFB, near Tucson, AZ. From 8-11 February 2010, 49 alumni gathered at Davis-Monthan AFB and heard the following presentations:

• Lieutenant Gen Glenn F. Spears, Commander of 12th Air Force and Air Forces Southern, discussed Air Force activities in the Caribbean, Latin America and South America. His discussion included an update on current Air Force efforts in Haiti.
• Colonel John Dowd, Professor in the AWC’s Leadership and Strategy Department, provided a discussion on our nation’s activities in Afghanistan based on his recent assignment there.
• Lieutenant General Allen G. Peck, Commander of Air University, provided an update on current Air Force activities and provided an update on activities within Air University.
• Colonel Robert W. Singleton, Vice Commander of the 355th Fighter Wing, provided the wing’s mission brief and a discussion on encroachment issues surrounding Davis-Monthan AFB.

The purpose of our Alumni Outreach Programs is to update NSF alumni on current Air Force and national security issues, to expose them to different Air Force missions, and to allow NSF alumni to network amongst themselves. Previous programs were held at Randolph AFB, Texas; MacDill AFB, Florida; Nellis AFB, Nevada; and Eglin and Hurlburt AFBs, Florida.