MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. —
The Chief Leadership Academy welcomed 34 students to the facilitated distance learning portion of the new Chief Leadership Course, June 16, 2025, after a nine-month course pause for curriculum refinement.
The students are part of a beta course, designed to test and certify that the new curriculum meets the needs of the Air Force. This redesigned five-week hybrid course combines facilitated distance learning with in-residence education.
“The new curriculum emphasizes warfighting doctrine and operations in contested environments,” Chief Master Sgt. Andrew Sotak, CLA commandant, said. “Unlike the previous course’s focus on unit-level efficiency, this curriculum prepares Chiefs for global, high-intensity scenarios, such as emerging technology threats.”
The facilitated distance learning phase of CLC consists of 40 hours of self-paced online sessions over two weeks. Chiefs progress as a group through leadership, strategic and warfighting modules with mandatory check-ins for discussions and feedback. Facilitated distance learning offers flexibility for balancing operational duties and helps to prepare chiefs for the classroom portion of the course.
The in-residence phase takes place at the CLA on Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, Alabama, and consists of 120 hours of instruction over three weeks. Students are divided into small “flights” to enhances tailored instruction, discussions and hands-on activities.
The new course also includes formal assessments, something the prior course didn’t have.
“Pre and post assessments, quizzes, a cumulative final exam and briefings replace the prior subjective evaluations,” Sotak said. “This ensures rigorous, measurable outcomes and continuous improvement through participant feedback.”
Led by the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, the curriculum overhaul included insight from major command senior leaders, combatant command leaders, Air University staff, field leaders, subject matter experts and graduates to help certify relevance for first-year Chiefs.
The course focuses on four primary learning outcomes: command leadership, organizational functions and domains, strategic leadership, and joint, interagency, intergovernmental, multinational (JIIM) operations. These learning outcomes are integrated with the Great Power Competition, Air Force Doctrine, mission command principles and the role of the chief.
“Our faculty of active-duty and retired chiefs and civilian educators have extensive credentials and are exceptional mentors,” Sotak said. “This course will enhance a chief’s confidence and ability to lead adaptable, lethal teams through complex scenarios and ensure mission readiness in the future fight.”
By Brian Ferguson
Barnes Center for Enlisted Education
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