CUTTING BACK THE STEM: CULTIVATING LIBERAL ARTS IN OFFICER ACCESSIONS

Abstract

The research examines whether the current singular focus on technical education for officer recruiting and accessions risks inhibiting mission success by unnecessarily narrowing the talent pool and stifling critical, creative thinking. The strategic documents guiding the future of the Air Force emphasize the need to move beyond industrial-era constructs. Currently, the USAF singularly emphasizes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) backgrounds in officer recruiting, pre-commissioning education, and accessions. War is not, however, an engineering problem. Tactical and operational effects are vital, but at the strategic level, war is waged in the mind. The future officer corps must use critical, divergent thinking in order to assess a strategic environment, appreciate its complexities, and devise creative approaches. Because the USAF grows its own leaders and strategists, it is imperative that new accessions possess habits of mind that foster flexibility and diversity of thought.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1030448

Entities

People

  • Stephen L. Meister

Organizations

  • School of Advanced Air and Space Studies

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Civil Engineering
  • Cognition
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Doctrine
  • Engineers
  • Human Behavior
  • International Relations
  • Military Education
  • Military History
  • Military Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Psychology
  • Students
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design