Air University Educational Digest - 2010 (pdf ... - The Air University

accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools (SACS). In December of 1999 the
School of Advanced
Airpower Studies received its accreditation from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The
school initially established as a part of the Air
Command and Staff College for specific graduates
also became an independent institution on 15
September 1999. In the National Defense
Authorization Act for fiscal year 2000, signed on 5
October 1999, Air University was granted authority
to confer the Master of Strategic Studies degree to
resident graduates of the Air War College and the
Master of Military Operational Art and Science
degree to resident graduates of the Air Command and
Staff College.
Early in the year 2000, several significant events took
place at Air University. On 1 February 2000, the Air
Force established the Air Force Institute for
Advanced Distributed Learning. With the emergence
of distance learning, Air University saw the need to
unite its former Extension Course Institute programs
with the Air Force Distance Learning Office. At the
basis of distance learning was the development of
interactive courseware and video te1etraining. At the
same time the increase in Internet access offered
another means of delivering courses to students
around the world. On 1 February 2000 the Office of
Academic Support was inactivated. On the same day
the Air University Academic Office was established
assuming most of the responsibilities of the Office of
Academic Support, in addition to the duties routinely
performed by chief Academic Officers at major
universities. The Academic Office consisted of four
divisions: Academic Affairs, Registrar, Faculty
development, and the Academic Instructor School.
Then on 8 February 2000 the Aerospace Basic
Course and the Squadron Officer School, were
merged under the Squadron Officer College (SOC).
In 2003 Academic Instructor School was
decentralized. Instructors were reassigned to the
various colleges under Air University. AIS, the
named activity, and 2 instructors were realigned to
CPD on 1 October 2003, where it continued to
provide instruction for CPD, CADRE, and external
customers. The following year brought the long
awaited accreditation of Air University by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The
decision rendered on June 24, made accreditation
retroactive to 1 January 2004. This was a significant
milestone in the continuing evolution of Air
University as an institution, because it was now
possible to offer graduate degrees on an equal basis
with other accredited academic institutions. To Gen
Regni‘s thinking this greatly facilitated efforts to
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maintain and enhance the traditional role of Air
University as the intellectual center for critical
thinking in the Air Force.
Squadron Officer School Seminar
In recent years the Southeast region has been
affected by a larger than usual number of
hurricanes. These weather related developments
have had a significant impact on Air University.
In 2005 Maxwell AFB began to serve as a
regional staging area for FEMA providing
personnel to assist with coordinating and
assisting in disaster relief efforts. In addition
Maxwell hosted evacuees and their families
from military bases in affected areas, and served
as a bed down facility for equipment from
affected AF bases, units operating from Maxwell
in support of relief efforts, and those units en
route to or from disaster relief operations.
FEMA staging area Maxwell AFB
In April 2006, USAF officials announced that the Air
Force Doctrine Center (AFDC), a Direct Reporting