MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education is developing a new Chief Leader Course (CLC) with an increased focus on providing chiefs the education required for them to meet the challenges and excel in an era of Great Power Competition.
“We are always striving to improve our curriculum and courses,” Col. Damian Schlussel, Barnes Center commander, said. “Our chiefs have a huge impact on our force, so we need to provide them the best professional military education possible – especially during a time of such consequence.”
Located on Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., CLC is the highest level of Air Force Enlisted Professional Military Education.
After the final class for fiscal 2024 graduates in September, CLC will pause for about nine months. During this period, major command and combatant command representatives, subject matter experts, and Air University cadre will use assessments, data collection and feedback from both leaders in the field and recent graduates to shape a new course for 2025.
“We are committed to providing a course with increased educational depth and rigor than what we’ve had before. Two weeks was frankly not enough time for the outcomes we need at this level of leadership,” Chief Master Sgt. Bridget Bruhn, Barnes Center command chief, said. “We need to go deeper on topics such as operational teaming with partners, mission command, and joint warfighting for today’s fight.”
Air University will continue to provide courses for chief master sergeants to attend during the CLC pause, to include the Chiefs’ Orientation Course, squadron Leadership Development Course, Pre-Command Team Training, and Strategic Leadership Course. Barnes Center officials will share more details and updates as the CLC revamp moves forward in the coming months.
“Air Force leaders had a choice to make,” Chief Master Sgt. Chad Bickley, command chief for Air Education and Training Command, said. “We could look at gradual changes to the current course over a few years or pause to accelerate the delivery of a new course, which meets the demands of the complex military challenges our joint force will face. We decided now is the time to move out and make the necessary changes to build an improved foundational chief course that is laser focused on increasing warfighting advantages.”