Congratulations on being selected to attend IDE at Air Command and Staff College during Academic Year (AY) 2020! As you prepare for the move to Air University, we would like you to think about applying for a unique type of educational experience for the year ahead—the Blue Horizons program.
Blue Horizons is a multi-rank IDE/SDE program, chartered by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force to "explore future geo-strategic and military-technical competition to build advantage for the United States." Blue Horizons Fellows participate in this program full-time in lieu of attending AWC or ACSC. This year, we plan to select 16 participants: 5 Lt Cols from the incoming AWC class and 11 Majors from the incoming ACSC class. We’re looking to build a team that represents adiverse array of Air Force specialties—from operations and acquisition to support career fields.
The program occupies a unique space in Air Force education, sitting at the crossroads of innovation, strategy, operations, technology, and classified intelligence. The ten-month program includes robust reading and writing requirements, class discussions, group trips to national labs and industry sites, as well as numerous interactions with leaders in government, academia, and business.
These activities spur the development of research that can inform the thinking of senior leaders in the Air Force and DOD. Beginning with AY 2018, Gen Goldfein tasked Blue Horizons to conduct research in the form of rapid prototypes of new operational concepts, organizational constructs, and applications of technology. Half of our projects from the first year were adopted for further development by other organizations in DOD.
We approach our course and these projects in a "deliberately unorthodox" way. We believe that the only way to succeed as an Air Force is to approach problems as challengers rather than as reigning champions. That is, we identify as Airmen who recognize that repeating the success of the past does not guarantee victory in the future. Fellows share ownership of this learning process with faculty in a dynamic educational environment. Creativity and initiative are vital.
The outplacement of graduates is specially-managed through the Advanced Studies Group (ASG) process—governed by VCSAF—which aims to ensure that Blue Horizons graduates have maximum opportunity to create and integrate innovative ideas and problem-solving techniques within the broader Air Force and Department of Defense. This could be through a return to a graduate’s community for command-track positions—which are #1 priority in this process—or in staff positions focused on innovation and capability development at places like Headquarters Air Force A5, J5, DARPA, AFWIC, etc. Note: While Blue Horizons graduates are managed through the ASG process, IDE fellows in the Blue Horizons program are still eligible to compete for SAASS and the other ASG programs.
We invite you to apply to become a member of our next class. Instructions for how to apply can be found below. All Air Force personnel who designated to attend ACSC with a Top Secret/SCI clearance are eligible to apply. The two exceptions to eligibility are 1) officers who have been selected as "AU Fellow Bs or AU Fellow Cs”—ACSC requires Fellow Bs and Cs to complete their program in preparation for their time as instructors—and 2) officers selected for the PAS program—SAF/IA requires that these officers complete a specific course of study at ACSC in preparation for dedicated follow-on assignments.
You can read more about the program here. We also invite you to contact our current fellows about their experience; this year's class is listed here.
Please feel free to send us questions at awc.csat.workflow@us.af.mil.
We hope to hear from you soon.
V/R,
The Blue Horizons Team
***APPLICATION PROCESS***
To apply for the Blue Horizons program, please email our Workflow (awc.csat.workflow@us.af.mil) with the following materials by COB, Friday 1 March 2019:
1. The Blue Horizons program is accredited to confer its own Master's degree. However, like other Air Force fellowships, we do not grant JPME Phase I credit. To earn this credit and to complete your IDE in-residence experience, you will have to complete ACSC through distance learning (eSchool), if you have not already done so.
In your application, please include a statement acknowledging that "I am a volunteer to participate in the Blue Horizons program for Academic Year 2020. I understand that my participation in the program will be in lieu of attending ACSC, and that I must complete ACSC via distance learning (eSchool) if I have not done so already."
2. Submit a short response (max 250 words) to each of the following three prompts:
A. Describe your biggest professional failure, and explain how that failure has made you a better officer.
B. What are the greatest challenges to America's national security? Keep your answer unclassified.
C. What are your hobbies and what do you enjoy about them?
You can write and submit these essays within the body of an email or as a separate word document.
At their discretion, the Blue Horizons faculty may also conduct a phone interview to assist in the process of selecting next year's class. We expect to announce selections in April.