Photo By Jeffrey Grossi | Steel Airmen pose for a group photo before graduating from the first ever Enlisted...... read more read more
The 911th Airlift Wing completed its first Enlisted Foundations Course Dec. 19, 2025 with nine graduates at Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania.
The courses provide Reserve Airmen with leadership development between professional military education courses that focus on Air Force foundational competencies: developing self, developing others, developing ideas and developing organizations.
“It helps fill in the leadership gap between the three big PME courses. It provides a refresher for some topics and an introduction for others,” said Tech. Sgt. Emma M. Hamrick, 911th Maintenance Group training manager and program manager for the Foundations Courses.
Many years can pass between the PME—professional military education—courses Steel Airmen attend. The Foundations Courses provide that refresher with a specific curriculum for each level. Additionally, since Dec. 31, 2025, the Foundations Courses are prerequisites for in-residence PME.
There are three versions of the five-day Foundations Course, at levels 300, 500, and 700. The objectives in these courses are tailored for junior enlisted, non-commissioned officers, and senior NCOs, respectively. The 911th AW held the NCO FC 500 course and covered different competencies such as, leadership development, understanding teams, critical thinking, and joint operations.
Tech. Sgt. Jacob Anthony, loadmaster with the 758th Airlift Sqaudron, attended the course and had opportunities to practice strategic planning. Giving him a new mindset to of how his careers tactics can affect other career fields and joint operations.
“I've been very focused on little picture for a long time now...," said Anthony. "Doing what I can in my area, and haven't really had the time or been in a scenario where I had to think more of the big picture."
Strong bullet writing for enlisted performance briefs was another appreciated topic. “There was some good information about bullet writing for the EPB, that was extremely useful,” said Staff Sgt. Dorey Westover, loadmaster with the 758th AS. She explained that her Airman Leadership School was transitioning from traditional bullet writing to performance statements and ultimately missed out on learning that valuable tool.
Impactful bullet writing hinges on the "AIR" formula—Action, Impact, Result. It uses strong verbs, quantifies achievements and clearly shows broad significance to the mission, unit, or Air Force. As these statement can impact the careers of junior Airmen regarding training opportunities, promotions and awards, have strong bullet writing skills is a must have for every NCO.
Like with many PME courses, Airmen get a chance to network and learn about other AF specialty codes during the course.
“We see [flyers] out on the flight line, on the cameras, or we’ll see security forces in their squad cars, but we don't really get to talk to them that much,” said Staff Sgt. Brady R. Hamer, command and control specialist with 911th Airlift Wing Command Post. “But the communication, I think, is the crucial piece of this puzzle.”
The course was structured to be mostly discussion-based, explained Hamrick. This allowed plenty of interaction between the students.
“As Reservists, we might not have the opportunity to attend in-residence PME, and we miss that critical opportunity of meeting people from other bases, AFSCs, and life experiences,” said Hamrick.
Anthony highly recommends the course. Not only for its information and networking, but also to provide feedback and continue improving the course.
“[The facilitators] were really encouraging feedback,” said Anthony. “You can have a huge impact on the next people that come through.”
The 911th AW will hold all levels of Foundations Courses throughout the year (listed below). If members are interested in taking the course, they can get with their unit training manager to see if they are eligible to enroll.
Mar. 16-20, 2026 (Registration deadline: Mar. 8, 2026)
June 22-26, 2026 (Registration deadline: June 12, 2026)
Sept. 21-25, 2026 (Registration deadline: Sept. 13, 2026)
Dec. 14-18, 2026 (Registration deadline: Dec. 6, 2026)
| Date Taken: | 01.11.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.12.2026 09:31 |
| Story ID: | 556012 |
| Location: | PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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