Mission. Produce strategists through advanced education in the art and science of air, space, and cyberspace power for the Air Force, Space Force and the nation.
AU’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) is the US Air Force and Space Force graduate school for strategists. A highly qualified and motivated faculty, a small and carefully selected student body, a coherent and challenging curriculum, outstanding educational and research resources, and a well-designed facility combine to produce tomorrow’s senior military leaders who are experts in the role of military force in the art of statecraft.
We have assembled a world-class faculty to lead a small, handpicked student body of mid-grade officers through the most rigorous fully-accredited strategic studies program in the Department of Defense.
With a twenty-five year proven track record of success, and over a thousand graduates--many filling senior leadership positions in the US and allied air forces and defense industries--we are passionate about building a better future though the education we offer.
At the core of our program is a one-year in-residence Master of Philosophy degree in Military Strategy. For a select cadre of our top graduates we also offer a Doctorate of Philosophy in Military Strategy. Our emphasis is not on military operations, per se, but rather on the strategic nexus where military and security professionals interact with decision makers on policy, diplomacy, international relations, geopolitics, and matters of military and political theory. In short, we take air, space, and cyber-minded officers and educate them to become strategists at the national level where the military tool--airpower in particular--is contemplated as one of several instruments of power that may (or may not) be appropriate for achieving national objectives.
Our students read extensively, write prolifically, and are thrust into debates where their skills of rhetoric are tested, weighed, and measured--as much by their peers as by their professors. We seek not only those who can make an argument, but those who can gather and use evidence correctly, incorporate new ideas and ways of thinking, and can accommodate diversity of opinion to find the best solutions for all sides of an issue.
We hope that by providing insight into our school that we will promote wider appreciation for strategic studies, not only in America, but among our allies and future partners as well. We are convinced that smarter strategists will build a safer, more secure world for us all.
