International Officer History at the Air Corps Tactical School, 1920-1940 and at the Air War College, 1947-2025 Published Aug. 29, 2024 By Dr. Liz Woodworth Wild Blue Yonder--Maxwell AFB -- Dedicated to our International Fellows, AY24 and AY25 Air Corps Tactical School Before the Air Force, before Air University, the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) existed to teach airpower from 1920-1940 to the US Army’s aviators. ACTS is the foundation of modern airpower education. In 1929, the school adopted this motto (the Air War College still uses it today): Proficimus More Irretenti In translation from Latin, it reads: “We make progress unhindered by custom.” This was certainly an apt motto for those who developed theories of airpower and its application in the early days of flight. The early aviators could not be hindered by custom—they had to innovate. Yet this motto still supports our educational mission today as we have expanded our focus to include cyber power and space power. The Air War College is the foremost college for air, space, and cyberspace education, and we are still making progress unhindered by custom, but we also remember our history. The story of the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) is the story of airpower from the end of WWI to the beginning of WWII.[1] ACTS actually began in 1920 at Langley Field in Virginia as that was the location of the Field Officers’ School for aviators. In 1922, the name was changed to Air Service Tactical School. It wasn’t until 1926, that the school name was changed again—this time to the Air Corps Tactical School. This was the name the school would officially hold until 1940 and the one we use today in referring to this era of early professional military education in airpower. In this same time, the first twenty or so years of the 20th century, in the state of Alabama, aviation was carrying on in a proud tradition. In 1910, the Wright Brothers started a civilian flying school outside Montgomery. That Wright Brothers’ school didn’t last long, but during WWI, an airplane engine and repair depot was established on what would be called Maxwell Field. On November 8, 1922, the field was named for Lt. William C. Maxwell, an Alabama native, who was “killed in an aircraft accident in the Philippines.”[2] The mission of the installation changed that same year and assigned to the 22nd Observation Squadron. In 1929, the first ever air drop to help humans suffering from natural disaster was organized out of Maxwell Field. In the summer of 1931, ACTS moved to Maxwell Field to take advantage of the expansive land available and the increased education it could then offer. The location may have felt perfect since it was also where the Wright Bros had their first flying school. The mornings in ACTS were devoted to classroom instruction, learning theories, and planning applications. Afternoons were all about flying. Early graduating classes had from seven to 25 students. Within a year of opening, leaders knew they needed to bring in officers from outside the Air Service. The first infantry officer arrived in 1923. By 1925, the class included three USMC officers and the first international officer, from the Spanish Army, Captain Carlos Sartorius. From that point forward, the various branches of military service in the US would participate in the school, and international officers were invited to attend regularly (see below). Countries represented in ACTS include (in order of attendance): Spain, Siam (now Thailand), Guatemala, Argentina, Sweden, Mexico, Turkey (now Turkiye), Chile, and China. See Figure 1 for more details. Figure 1. There were various solutions for airpower training and education through WWII, but nothing like our current Air War College happened until General Order No. 11 was issued and the AWC came into existence (as part of Air University) at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama, established in March 1946. From that time, Royal Air Force Officers were part of the student body. Joining the students in year two, officers from the Royal Canadian Air Force were also enrolled. See Figure 2 for students from the RAF and RCAF. In addition to individual students, forty members of the RCAF Staff visited the AWC from 8 to 12 May 1950. They joined in the curriculum and lectures. As the curriculum changed many times over the years, so the student body grew, and the program became a master’s degree awarding a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs AY62. In AY65, the degree changed to a Master of Science in International Affairs. Along with the masters level degrees, a few Bachelor degrees were occasionally awarded, but that degree seemed to cease in AY67.[3] Later in AWC’s history, the degree was changed to a Master of Strategic Studies. To accommodate those international officers who do not need a full master’s degree, the AWC offers a diploma program which assigns JPMEII credit for officers choosing the diploma track. Figure 2. RAF (United Kingdom, Royal Air Force) and RCAF (Canada, Royal Canadian Air Force) officers attending AWC AY47 to AY68 The beginning of enrollment for international officers beyond the UK and Canada came in AY74. The first international officers to graduate from the AWC were from Germany, Imperial Iran, and Australia. Today, a quick glance at our class pictures in the hallways of the second floor shows many officers from all over the world in every class (class pictures of the first class and most recent graduating class hang on the wall on the first floor, near the entry of Jones Auditorium). We are honored to have had many students every year from allied and partner countries over the last fifty years. The best part may be that the numbers for international officers attending the AWC have steadily grown to our current class of AY25. See Figure 3 for a list of international students from 1974 until the present, listed by country.[4] With this essay, we honor our current International Fellows here for AY24 and value all international allies and partners who have shared in modern international joint airpower education. This academic year, AY25, commemorates the 100th anniversary of US airpower education and international cooperation that began with one Spanish officer in ACTS in 1925. To celebrate, we created a coin (below).[5] This work is dedicated to our International Fellows: thank you for spending this year with AWC. And to all our International Officer students: you are an important part of our history and our future. Thank you for being here, for learning at our institution, for developing as senior and strategic leaders. Figure 3. Countries and numbers of students at AWC from AY1974 to AY2025. AY1974 AY2001 Continued AY2017 Continued Australia Qatar Lebanon Canada Romania Malaysia West Germany Saudi Arabia Mexico Imperial Iran (2) Senegal Morocco United Kingdom (4) Singapore Netherlands AY1975 Slovakia New Zealand Australia Spain Nigeria Canada Sweden Norway Imperial Iran (2) Switzerland Oman United Kingdom (3) Taiwan Pakistan AY1976 Thailand Peru Imperial Iran Turkey Philippines United Kingdom (4) Ukraine Poland AY1977 United Arab Emirates South Korea Australia United Kingdom Romania Canada Venezuela Saudi Arabia West Germany Zimbabwe Senegal United Kingdom (3) AY2002 Spain AY1978 Argentina Sweden Australia (2) Australia Taiwan Canada Bangladesh Tunisia West Germany Belgium United Arab Emirates Imperial Iran (2) Bolivia United Kingdom India (2) Brazil AY2018 Singapore Cameroon Algeria South Africa Canada Australia United Kingdom (2) Czech Republic Belgium AY1979 Denmark Brazil Australia Egypt Canada Canada El Salvador Chile Egypt France Colombia West Germany Gabon Finland Imperial Iran Germany France Israel Greece Germany Japan Hungary Greece Jordan India India South Korea Israel Indonesia United Kingdom (3) Italy Israel Venezuela Japan Italy AY1980 Jordan Japan Australia Kenya Jordan Canada South Korea Kuwait France Kuwait Lebanon West Germany Macedonia Mauritania Greece Mexico Mexico Israel Netherlands Morocco Japan New Zealand Netherlands Jordan Nigeria New Zealand Portugal Norway Nigeria Saudi Arabia Pakistan Norway Spain Poland Oman Turkey Saudi Arabia Pakistan United Kingdom (2) Singapore Peru AY1981 Slovenia Philippines Canada Spain Poland Egypt (2) Taiwan South Korea West Germany Thailand Romania Indonesia Turkey Saudi Arabia Jordan United Arab Emirates South Africa South Korea (2) United Kingdom Spain Pakistan (2) Venezuela Taiwan United Kingdom (3) AY2003 Tunisia AY1982 Argentina Turkey Australia Australia United Arab Emirates Canada Brazil AY2019 France Bulgaria Afghanistan West Germany Canada Argentina Greece Chile Australia Indonesia Colombia Bahrain Israel (2) Croatia Bulgaria Japan Ecuador Cameroon Jordan Egypt Canada Malaysia France Chile Nigeria (2) Germany Colombia Norway Greece Croatia Pakistan India Egypt Peru Israel France Philippines Italy India Saudi Arabia (2) Japan Indonesia Singapore Jordan Israel Spain South Korea Italy Thailand Kuwait Japan Turkey Macedonia Jordan United Kingdom Malaysia Kenya AY1983 Mexico Kuwait Brazil Morocco Morocco Canada Netherlands Netherlands Colombia Nigeria New Zealand Dominican Republic Norway Niger Egypt (2) Oman Nigeria France Pakistan Norway West Germany Peru Oman Indonesia Philippines Pakistan Israel (2) Poland Philippines Japan Qatar Poland Jordan Saudi Arabia South Korea South Korea (2) Singapore Romania Morocco Slovakia (2) Rwanda Nigeria (2) Spain Saudi Arabia Pakistan Taiwan Spain Peru Turkey Taiwan Philippines (2) Ukraine Thailand Portugal United Arab Emirates Tunisia Australia (2) United Kingdom Turkey United Kingdom (2) Venezuela Uganda Saudi Arabia (2) AY2004 United Arab Emirates Singapore Argentina AY2020 Somalia Australia Australia Spain Bangladesh Brazil Sudan Belgium Bulgaria Thailand Bolivia Canada AY1984 Bulgaria Colombia Australia (2) Canada Czech Republic Canada Czech Republic Denmark Colombia Denmark Egypt Egypt (2) Ecuador France France Egypt Georgia Greece Finland Germany Honduras France Greece Indonesia Germany Hungary Israel (2) Greece India Italy India Indonesia Japan Indonesia Italy Jordan (2) Israel Japan South Korea (2) Italy Jordan Kuwait Japan Kenya Malaysia Jordan South Korea Nigeria (2) South Korea Lebanon Norway Kuwait Lithuania Pakistan Lithuania Mexico Peru Malaysia Morocco Philippines (2) Mexico Netherlands Saudi Arabia (2) Netherlands New Zealand Spain Norway Nigeria Sudan Oman Norway Thailand Pakistan Oman Turkey Philippines Pakistan United Kingdom Poland Peru AY1985 Qatar Philippines Australia (2) Romania Poland Brazil Saudi Arabia Romania Canada Singapore Saudi Arabia Colombia South Africa Spain Ecuador Spain Sweden Egypt Sweden Tunisia France Taiwan Turkey West Germany Thailand United Arab Emirates Israel (3) Turkey United Kingdom Italy Ukraine AY2021 Japan United Arab Emirates Argentina Jordan (2) United Kingdom Brazil Kenya AY2005 Bulgaria South Korea (2) Algeria Canada Malaysia Argentina Croatia Nigeria (2) Australia Estonia Pakistan (2) Bahrain Ethiopia Peru Botswana Finland Philippines Bulgaria France Saudi Arabia (2) Canada Germany Singapore Colombia Greece Spain Czech Republic India Sudan Egypt Indonesia Thailand France Italy Turkey Germany Japan United Kingdom Ghana Jordan AY1986 Greece Kenya Algeria Hungary Lebanon Australia (2) India Mexico Bolivia Israel Mongolia Canada Italy Netherlands Colombia Japan Norway Egypt Jordan Pakistan France Kenya Philippines Germany South Korea Poland India Kuwait South Korea Indonesia Macedonia Romania Israel (2) Mexico Saudi Arabia Japan Morocco Slovakia Jordan (2) Netherlands Spain South Korea (2) New Zealand Taiwan Malaysia Norway Thailand Morocco Oman Tunisia Nigeria Pakistan Turkey Norway Philippines Ukraine Peru Poland AY2022 Saudi Arabia (2) Qatar Argentina Spain Romania Australia Sudan Singapore Austria Thailand Slovakia Bahrain Turkey (2) Spain Bangladesh United Kingdom (2) Taiwan Belgium Venezuela Thailand Brazil AY1987 Tunisia Bulgaria Algeria Turkey Canada Australia (2) United Arab Emirates Chile Brazil Ukraine Colombia Canada United Kingdom Czech Republic Egypt AY2006 Egypt France Algeria El Salvador Greece Argentina France India Bahrain Greece Indonesia Bangladesh India Israel (2) Belgium Indonesia Italy Botswana Israel Japan Brazil Italy Jordan (2) Bulgaria Japan Kenya Canada Jordan South Korea (2) Colombia Kenya Nigeria Czech Republic Malaysia Pakistan Egypt Mexico Philippines El Salvador Morocco Portugal France North Macedonia Saudi Arabia (2) Germany New Zealand Somalia Hungary Niger Spain India Nigeria Thailand Indonesia Norway Tunisia Israel Oman Turkey Italy Pakistan United Kingdom Japan Peru Zaire Jordan Philippines AY1988 South Korea Poland Australia Lithuania Romania Canada (3) Mexico Saudi Arabia Colombia Morocco Spain Egypt Netherlands Sri Lanka France New Zealand Taiwan Germany Norway Thailand Greece Oman Tunisia Honduras Pakistan United Arab Emirates Indonesia Philippines Uruguay Israel Poland AY2023 Italy Romania Argentina Jordan (2) Spain Australia South Korea (2) Taiwan Bahrain Malaysia Thailand Brazil Nigeria Tunisia Bulgaria Norway Turkey Canada Pakistan Ukraine Chile Philippines (2) United Arab Emirates Colombia Saudi Arabia (2) United Kingdom Czech Republic Senegal AY2007 Denmark Spain Algeria Estonia Sweden Argentina France Thailand Australia Germany United Kingdom Bahrain Hungary Yugoslavia Brazil India Zaire Bulgaria Indonesia Zimbawbe Canada Iraq AY1989 Chile Israel Brazil Colombia Italy Canada Czech Republic Japan Egypt Ecuador Jordan France Egypt Lithuania Germany El Salvador Malaysia Guatamala France Morocco India Germany Netherlands Indonesia Greece Niger Israel (2) India Nigeria Italy Indonesia Norway Japan Iraq Oman Jordan Israel Pakistan Kenya Italy Philippines South Korea (2) Japan Poland Mexico Jordan South Korea New Zealand Lebanon Romania Nigeria Mexico Saudi Arabia Pakistan Morocco Slovakia Philippines Netherlands Spain Saudi Arabia (2) Norway Sweden Somalia Oman Taiwan Spain Pakistan Thailand Thailand Philippines Tunisia Turkey (2) Poland Turkey United Arab Emirates South Korea United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (2) Romania United Kingdom Venezuela Saudi Arabia AY2024 Yugoslavia Singapore Australia AY1990 Spain Azerbaijan Algeria Taiwan Bahrain Australia (2) Thailand Bangladesh Brazil Tunisia Belgium Colombia Turkey Brazil France Uganda Canada India United Arab Emirates Colombia Indonesia United Kingdom Czech Republic Israel (2) AY2008 Ecuador Italy Algeria Finland Japan Australia France Jordan Bahrain Ghana Malaysia Bangladesh Hungary Mexico Botswana India Morocco Bulgaria Indonesia Nigeria Canada Iraq/Kurdistan Region Norway Czech Republic Israel Oman Egypt Italy Pakistan El Salvador Japan Philippines France Jordan South Korea Germany South Korea Saudi Arabia Ghana Kuwait Singapore Greece Lithuania Spain Honduras Malaysia Sweden India Mexico Turkey Indonesia Morocco United Arab Emirates Israel Netherlands United Kingdom (2) Italy Niger Venezuela Japan Nigeria AY1991 Jordan Norway Australia (2) Kenya Oman Brazil South Korea Pakistan Colombia Kuwait Peru Cote D'Ivoire Lithuania Philippines Egypt Malaysia Poland France Mexico Turkey Germany Morocco Romania Greece Netherlands Saudi Arabia India Nigeria Spain Indonesia Norway Sri Lanka Israel (2) Pakistan Taiwan Italy Philippines Thailand Japan Poland Tunisia Jordan Qatar Ukraine Kenya Romania United Arab Emirates South Korea (2) Saudi Arabia United Kingdom Malaysia Spain AY2025 Mexico Taiwan Algeria Morocco Tunisia Argentina New Zealand Ukraine Australia Nigeria United Arab Emirates Botswana Pakistan United Kingdom Bangladesh Philippines AY2009 Brazil Saudi Arabia (2) Afghanistan Canada Singapore Algeria Czech Republic Spain Argentina France Thailand Australia Ghana Turkey (2) Bahrain Greece United Arab Emirates Brazil Germany United Kingdom (2) Bulgaria Hungary Uruguay Canada India Venezuela Colombia Israel AY1992 Denmark Japan Australia (2) Ecuador Jordan Bangladesh Egypt Kenya Brazil France South Korea Chile Germany Kuwait Colombia Greece Slovakia Egypt India Malaysia Finland Indonesia Montenegro France Iraq Morocco Germany Israel Oman India Italy Mexico Indonesia Japan Netherlands Israel (2) Jordan Nigeria South Korea (2) Lebanon Norway Mali Malaysia New Zealand Mexico Mexico Philippines Nigeria Morocco Pakistan Norway New Zealand Poland Oman Nigeria Qatar Philippines Norway Romania Saudi Arabia (2) Pakistan Senegal Spain Philippines Spain Turkey Poland Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Romania Thailand AY1993 Saudi Arabia Turkey Argentina Senegal Tunisia Australia (2) Singapore Taiwan Canada South Africa United Arab Emirates Colombia South Korea United Kingdom Ecuador Spain Ukraine Egypt Tunisia Zambia France Turkey Germany Ukraine Greece United Arab Emirates India United Kingdom Indonesia AY2010 Israel (3) Algeria Italy Argentina Japan Bahrain Jordan Belgium South Korea (2) Brazil Kuwait Bulgaria Mexico Canada Oman Czech Republic Philippines Ecuador Poland Egypt Russia El Salvador Saudi Arabia (2) France Singapore Germany Slovakia Greece Spain India Taiwan Indonesia Turkey (2) Israel United Arab Emirates Italy United Kingdom (2) Japan Venezuela Jordan AY1994 Kuwait Argentina Malaysia Australia Mexico Bangladesh Morocco Brazil Nigeria Bulgaria Norway Canada Pakistan Chile Philippines Czech Republic Poland Ecuador Qatar Egypt Romania France Rwanda Germany Saudi Arabia Hungary Serbia India Slovakia Israel South Africa Japan South Korea Jordan Spain South Korea Sweden Kuwait Taiwan Mexico Thailand Morocco Turkey New Zealand United Arab Emirates Niger United Kingdom Norway AY2011 Oman Afghanistan Philippines Algeria Poland Argentina Russia Australia Saudi Arabia Bahrain Senegal Brazil Singapore Bulgaria Spain Canada Taiwan Colombia Ukraine Czech Republic United Arab Emirates Denmark United Kingdom (2) Egypt Venezuela El Salvador AY1995 Finland Algeria France Argentina Georgia Australia Germany Botswana Hungary Brazil India Canada Indonesia Chile Iraq Colombia Israel Czech Republic Italy Egypt Japan El Salvador Jordan France Kenya Germany Lithuania Honduras Mexico Hungary Morocco India Nigeria (2) Israel Norway Italy Pakistan Japan Philippines Jordan Poland Kenya Romania South Korea Saudi Arabia Malaysia Serbia Mexico South Africa Morocco South Korea Norway Spain Oman Taiwan Poland Turkey Qatar United Arab Emirates Russia United Kingdom Saudi Arabia (2) AY2012 Senegal Afghanistan Singapore South Africa Spain Algeria Sweden Australia Taiwan Bangladesh Thailand Belgium United Arab Emirates Brazil AY1996 Bulgaria Australia Canada Botswana Colombia Brazil Czech Republic Bulgaria Egypt Canada El Salvador Chile France Colombia Germany Czech Republic Ghana Egypt India El Salvador Indonesia Finland Israel France Italy Germany Japan Hungary Jordan India Kuwait Israel (2) Lebanon Japan Malaysia Jordan Mexico South Korea Morocco Kuwait Nigeria Lebanon Norway Malaysia Pakistan Mexico Philippines Mozambique Poland Netherlands South Korea Norway Romania Poland Rwanda Romania Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia (2) Spain Singapore Taiwan Spain Thailand Thailand Tunisia United Arab Emirates Turkey United Kingdom Uganda Venezuela United Arab Emirates AY1997 United Kingdom Argentina Zambia Australia AY2013 Bolivia Algeria Brazil Australia Canada Brazil Chile Bulgaria Croatia Canada Czech Republic Colombia Ecuador Czech Republic France Egypt Germany El Salvador Greece France Hungary Germany India India Israel Indonesia Italy Iraq Japan Israel Jordan Italy South Korea Japan Kuwait Jordan Mexico Kenya Morocco South Korea Netherlands Kuwait New Zealand Malaysia Norway Morocco Oman New Zealand Poland Nigeria (2) Saudi Arabia Norway Senegal Pakistan (2) Singapore Philippines South Africa Poland Spain Qatar Sweden Romania Taiwan Saudi Arabia (2) Thailand Singapore Turkey South Africa Ukraine Spain United Arab Emirates Taiwan United Kingdom Thailand Venezuela Turkey AY1998 Uganda Argentina United Arab Emirates Australia United Kingdom Belarus AY2014 Brazil Afghanistan Canada Australia Croatia Bangladesh Czech Republic Botswana Egypt Brazil France Bulgaria Germany Canada Greece Chile India Colombia Israel Czech Republic Italy Finland Japan France Jordan India Kenya Indonesia South Korea Italy (2) Kuwait Japan Malaysia Jordan Mexico Kuwait Morocco Lithuania Netherlands Malaysia Norway Mexico Pakistan Morocco Paraguay New Zealand Poland Nigeria Qatar Norway Romania Oman Russia Pakistan Saudi Arabia Poland Singapore Qatar Slovakia Romania Spain Saudi Arabia Taiwan South Korea Thailand Sweden Turkey Taiwan Ukraine Thailand United Kingdom Turkey AY1999 United Kingdom Argentina AY2015 Australia Algeria Austria Australia (2) Bolivia Botswana Bulgaria Brazil Canada Bulgaria Chile Canada Croatia Chile Czech Republic Colombia Egypt Czech Republic El Salvador Egypt France France Germany Ghana United Kingdom Greece Greece India Hungary Indonesia Israel Israel Italy Italy (3) Japan Japan Jordan Jordan Saudi Arabia Kenya South Korea Kuwait Kuwait Libya Mali Malaysia Mexico Mexico Morocco Morocco (2) New Zealand Netherlands Norway New Zealand Oman Nigeria Poland Norway Qatar Oman Singapore Pakistan Slovenia Philippines Spain Poland Taiwan South Korea Thailand Romania Tunisia Saudi Arabia Turkey Singapore (2) Ukraine Spain United Arab Emirates Taiwan AY2000 Tunisia Argentina United Kingdom Australia Yemen Botswana AY2016 Brazil Algeria Bulgaria Australia (2) Canada Brazil Chile Bulgaria Ecuador Canada Egypt Chile Finland Colombia France Czech Republic Germany Denmark Greece Egypt Hungary Estonia India France Israel Germany Italy Greece Japan India Jordan Indonesia South Korea Israel Kuwait Italy Latvia Japan Morocco Jordan Netherlands Kenya Norway Kuwait Oman Lebanon Peru Malaysia Philippines Mexico Poland Morocco Romania Nigeria Saudi Arabia Norway Singapore Oman Slovenia Pakistan Thailand Philippines Turkey Poland Ukraine South Korea United Arab Emirates Romania United Kingdom Saudi Arabia Venezuela Spain AY2001 Taiwan Argentina Tunisia Australia Uganda Austria United Arab Emirates Bangladesh United Kingdom Brazil Yemen Bulgaria AY2017 Canada Algeria Chile Australia Colombia Brazil Czech Republic Bulgaria Egypt Canada France Chile Germany Colombia Greece Czech Republic Hungary Denmark India Egypt Israel Estonia Italy France Japan Germany Jordan Greece South Korea India Kuwait Indonesia Mexico Israel Morocco Italy Netherlands Japan Norway Jordan Oman Kenya Poland Kuwait [1] I gathered information for this short paper from three sources: 1) History of the Air Corps Tactical School, 1920-1940 by Robert T. Finney (originally printed in 1955 by the Research Studies Institute, USAF Historical Division, Air University); 2) History of the Air War College 25th Anniversary, Command Edition, 1946-1971 (published by Air University in 1970); 3) “’Proficimus More Irretenti’” The Air War College at Fifty” by Dr. James A Mowbray, Department of Strategy, Air War College (included in the 2007 AWC alumni directory). [2] https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/maxwell-air-force-base-and-gunter-annex/ [3] I haven’t found sufficient evidence of what happened to this degree program at the present time, but I wanted to share nonetheless (31 Jan 2024). [4] With the help of two young researchers assigned to work at our Office of Sponsored Programs this summer, who were graciously lent to me by Dr. Margaret Sankey, I was able to include all our International Officers, listed by country, from 1974 to 2025. Thank you, Ethan Pierce and Kennedy Holland—thank you for looking at every single picture in our hallways and checking twice. [5] Thank you to Holly Shoemaker, at the Air War College, for creating this coin that will bring joy to many.