A Qualitative Study of Air Mobility Command's Phoenix Horizon Reach Program

Abstract

As one of AMCs premiere professional development programs, the Phoenix Horizon-Reach (PH-R) program has existed in its current unchanged form for 26 years. By analyzing the validity of the program in today's significantly changed environment and by identifying recommendations and opportunities for improvement, this paper will serve to strength the program to meet the difficult challenges outlined in the current NDS. As such, this graduate research paper analyzed program information, promotion data, and participant and non-participant interviews to evaluate one of Air Mobility Commands (AMC) leadership development programs, PH-R. In addition, the purpose of the research was to evaluate the programs ability to meet its original intent through a qualitative cost-benefit analysis to identify gaps and recommend program improvements. Additionally, promotion board data was analyzed, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 total rated officers, and various academic research findings were analyzed and incorporated on leadership development programs. The interviews included three General officers, six Colonels, six Lieutenant Colonels, and three Majors with both participation and non-participation in the program. The officers interviewed also were selected randomly to eliminate bias. Next, using qualitative analysis with Tesch's eight-step coding process and NVivo analysis software, multiple themes were identified from the insights discovered during the interviews. Finally, through the analysis of themes from interviews combined with information learned during the literature review, a few areas of program improvement were identified.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 14, 2019
Accession Number
AD1079710

Entities

People

  • Zachary L. Coburn

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Business Administration
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • General Officers
  • Instructors
  • Literature Surveys
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Professional Development
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Transportation Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.