Eaker Center adds space education to professional continuing education programs Published Oct. 7, 2009 By Senior Airman Melissa Copeland Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Air University's Ira C. Eaker Center for Professional Development is now home to the Air Force Space Command's professional continuing education, or PCE, center for excellence, the National Security Space Institute, effective Thursday. "It is logical for the NSSI to nest within the Eaker Center as it is responsible for providing a large portion of Air Force professional continuing education programs," said Col. Robert Gibson, NSSI commandant. "Completing this merger now will allow us to better institutionalize space development throughout the Air Force by more closely integrating space education and training into overall Air University and Air Force processes." Eaker Center is comprised of four additional PCE schools - the Commanders' Professional Development School, the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Service Institute, the Defense Financial Management and Comptroller School and the Air Force Human Resource Management School. In 2008, the center graduated more than 6,200 in-residence and distance learning students from its 73 classroom, distance learning and exportable courses. "Eaker Center's mission is to provide academic oversight for and conduct education on behalf of Air Force functional managers, and this will fit right into that model," said Col. James Galloway, the Eaker Center commander. The NSSI is comprised of two schools - the Space Professional School and Space Operations School. The schools are also collocated with the Space Power Lab in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Space Professional School graduates more than 800 students each year and executes AFSPC's Space Professional Development Program by offering two courses, Space 200 and 300. Space 200 prepares students to provide intermediate-level leadership in the military space community. The NSSI's capstone course, Space 300, is designed to prepare future space leaders with strategic knowledge and understanding of security space assets in joint military environments. The Space Operations School provides education and training for the joint warfighter through space orientation, deployment/preparation and advanced courses, such as the Space Fundamentals Course; Space Warfighter Preparatory Course; Missile Warning and Defense; Advanced Orbital Mechanics; and the Satellite Communications course. The school graduates more than 700 students annually. Although the educational asset of the NSSI now falls under Eaker's umbrella of PCE programs, the courses, 46-person staff and students will remain in Colorado. "We believe our merger will allow us to raise the bar even higher as we avail ourselves to the many education resources and partnerships available through the Air University," Colonel Gibson said. The mission and objectives of the NSSI will remained steadfast - to provide "full-spectrum space education and tailored training, enabling graduates to support and execute Joint and Combined military operations and advance U.S. national security interests," according to the NSSI brochure. AFSPC Vice Commander Maj. Gen. Michael J. Basla and Air University Commander Lt. Gen. Allen G. Peck presided over the official ceremony Thursday at the NSSI campus in Colorado. For more information on Eaker Center or the NSSI, visit www.au.af.mil/au/ecpd/.