Officer developmental education spans an officer’s professional career. Developmental education refers to an array of resident, non-resident, and blended educational opportunities composed of formal programs including, but not limited to, service and joint PME and fellowships. There are three levels of ODE education: primary, intermediate and senior. Under the force development construct, officers are functionally developed to be experts in their respective career fields. According to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, PME is defined as a broadening opportunity and, as such, is designed to help prepare officers for an array of potential assignments within and outside their occupational expertise.

All Commissioned Air National Guard Officers on State Active Duty are eligible for Officer Developmental Education.

Squadron Officer School (SOS) - The purpose of SOS is to develop solution-minded, bold, and courageous Airmen and Guardians ready to overcome tomorrow's challenges.  The course is structured around four areas: Leading, Communicating, Warfighting, and Thinking. Students will engage in classroom and hands-on application events to lead themselves and their team, to foster a strategic and creative mindset, to resolve conflict effectively, to collaboratively solve problems, and to gain foundational knowledge on airpower doctrine, international paradigms, and joint all-domain warfare to learn to lead in uncertain environments.

Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) - The ACSC resident curriculum is a rigorous 10-month graduate-level program taught through intensive small group seminars and engaging lectures. Courses cover topics that include the profession of arms, leadership and ethics, joint operations, air power, and the international security environment. Additionally, students have the opportunity to conduct research and participate in elective courses that explore topics of varying interests. Successful completion of the ACSC Resident Program are awarded Joint Professional Military Education I credit and the Masters of Military Operational Art and Science Degree to qualified students who meet all curriculum and criteria requirements.

Air War College – The AWC program strives to develop officers who can think strategically to analyze the security implications of past, present, and future operating environments and effectively communicate complex ideas; analyze strategic leadership and the values of the profession of arms, including sound moral judgment and character; assess and develop strategies and joint warfighting plans across the spectrum of conflict in pursuit of national security objectives, highlighting the role of airpower; and evaluate the nature and character of war and conflict and the employment of military capabilities, in concert with other instruments of national power, in a joint, interagency, and coalition environment.

Online Master’s Program (OLMP)- OLMP is a master’s degree program designed to produce more effective officers for serving in operational-level command or staff positions. The program fosters the development of higher-order thinking by challenging students to think critically about applying air and space power in joint campaigns at the operational level of war.  The curriculum addresses topics including contemporary Air Force operations, national security, leadership, and joint warfare. The OLMP is offered in four concentrations, all of which are separate from ACSC’s traditional non-resident distance learning program. The four concentrations are: Joint Warfare, Leadership, Nuclear Weapons, and Operational Warfare.  Students who complete the Joint Warfare concentration also earn Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) Phase I credit and Intermediate Developmental Education (IDE) credit on their Air Force record.  

Global College of Online PME (GCPME) - The Officer PME provides distance learning opportunities to officers who are unable to attend courses in person. These courses offer the opportunity to learn how to effectively lead, follow, and manage in today’s Air and Space Forces as they prepare for greater leadership roles in their future. OPME Distance Learning Programs (DLP) include SOS DLP, ACSC DLP, AWC DLP, and the OLMP DLP.

School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) - SAASS is a 50-week, follow-on school for selected graduates of intermediate-level Department of Defense PME schools. SAASS creates warrior-scholars with a superior ability to develop, evaluate, and employ airpower within the complex environment of modern war. Upon completion of all requirements and with faculty recommendation, graduates receive a master of philosophy degree in military strategy.

Jeanne M. Holm Center - Holm Center provides coordinated leadership and policy direction for the Air Force's officer recruiting, training, and commissioning programs at Officer Training School and at Air Force ROTC detachments at 145 universities. About 80% of new officers who enter the Air Force each year come through one of these two programs. The Holm Center staff also manages, supports and develops curriculum to train tomorrow's Air Force officers.

• Officer Training School (OTS) – OTS takes a modular and competency-based approach to better develop Warrior-Minded Leaders of Character. While being educated, trained, and developed, OTS expects Officer Trainees to enhance their knowledge and acquire the characteristics necessary to exemplify a warrior mindset. OTS describes these characteristics as the OTS Leadership Attributes (OLAs): Leadership, Communication, Professionalism, Warfighting, and Mission Execution. Officer Trainees are tasked to complete a rigorous 60 day training program with OTS staff developing through the DAF Foundational Competencies (AFH 36-2647) to instill these attributes.
• Warrant Officer Training School (WOTS) - WOTS is an 8-week in-residence training and accessions program located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. The goal of WOTS is to develop professional warrant officers who can advise and integrate at varying organizational levels. This program is designed to educate and train candidates with specialized knowledge or technical skills who can serve as technical advisors to command WOTS is a challenging, fast-paced, and highly structured educational program that integrates classroom lecture, guided discussion, and experiential learning opportunities to reinforce educational understanding. Candidates should expect to be submerged in a dynamic training environment both indoors and outdoors. The candidate must be motivated to understand and apply the foundation of the profession of arms, communication, leadership, and followership taught at WOTS. Academic curriculum and associated coursework are derived from three core program areas. These program areas focus on skills, knowledge and intellectual capabilities expected of warrant officers serving in the United States Air Force.

DAFI 36-2686 – Officer Development
https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/dafi36-2686/dafi36-2686.pdf

Air Force Handbook 36-2647 - Competency Modeling
https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afh36-2647/afh36-2647.pdf

Air Force Accessions Center
https://www.afaccessionscenter.af.mil/