We Were Deans Once ... and Young: Veteran PME Educators Look Back
Abstract
The publication of a book chapter titled Professors in the Colonels World by Daniel J. Hughes, a retired Air War College professor, began a debate regarding the quality and future of professional military education (PME) in the US Air Force. The chapter sparked a lively exchange on journalist Tom Ricks s widely read Foreign Policy blog The Best Defense. Among his most serious charges, Hughes claims that Air Force PME is hamstrung because its major educational institutions, particularly Air War College (AWC), are led by senior leaders with little or no academic background. He further claims that the military faculty members at these schools are at best ill prepared for their educational tasks and at worst openly hostile to academic enterprise. Finally, Hughes argues that academic standards and scholarly rigor are noticeably absent from PME. The culprit? Something one might call the clash of cultures that exists between civilian and military faculty. Certainly, serious differences exist between these two groups of people, but are those differences so stark as to make life intolerable? Are they insurmountable? Perhaps, but we think not.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA562362
Entities
People
- James W. Forsyth Jr.
- Richard R. Muller
Organizations
- Air University