HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Air Force officials recently announced that the application window to apply for Civilian Development Education has opened.
Civilian Development Education, or CDE, is a portfolio of educational opportunities designed to address the developmental needs of the civilian workforce at all levels.
In an article published Feb. 25, AFPC officials spoke about the program.
“It’s important for Air Force leaders to be proactive in the strategic development and mentorship of their civilian workforce,” said Gina Banda, chief, civilian leadership development and education section at the Air Force’s Personnel Center. “DE [developmental education] prepares Air Force civilians for increased responsibility and shared leadership with the military.”
Through the CDE program, Greg Ketchum, a contracting officer for the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Special Programs Office with no prior military experience, was able to attend Squadron Officer School.
“From the moment I heard about Squadron Officer School, it sounded like the kind of program I would be interested in,” said Ketchum, who was the only civilian in his 14-person flight.
SOS is an in-residence nearly seven-week experience for Air Force captains. Ketchum received the distinguished graduate award and was named an outstanding contributor of his flight.
“I’ve heard people talk about SOS re-bluing the captains, and having never been through that before, it blued me for the first time,” he said. “It definitely helped invigorate me to do my job as well as I could and help me understand the big picture.”
In addition to SOS, personnel have the opportunity to attain an associate through advanced college degree at an Air Force institution or spots in other professional military education programs, such Air War College.
AFPC officials add that fellowships at the RAND Research Institute, Education with Industry and the Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program are among a myriad of other offerings, which include long-term courses as well as shorter seminar events.
More than 700 Air Force Materiel Command civilians applied for CDE programs last year. According to an AFMC article earlier in February, applicants participated in more than 640 programs during the competitive process at all levels of the developmental spectrum.
This year, programs are divided into five categories: the Professional Military Education series, which includes Basic Developmental Education, Intermediate Developmental Education and Senior Developmental Education; Academic Programs and Fellowships; and Leadership Courses, which are primarily one-week seminars. Air Force Personnel Center officials made this change to clarify the programs that meet the professional military education requirement, which is one of the critical factors in determining program eligibility.
Those interested must submit applications through MyVector. Registration is required for applicants, supervisors and endorsing officials. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center applicants must submit their nomination packages by early April, with chain of command concurrence by May 1. The system uses prompts to guide applicants through the process.
The selection board will convene in September with final approval of primary and alternate candidates released later this year.
To learn more about the CDE program, visit https://go.usa.gov/xEB8v.