Photo By Airman 1st Class Theodore Gowdy | U.S. Air Force Airman Leadership School students bound through the snow during the...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – “In to learn, out to serve” is the motto of the Elmendorf Professional Military Education Center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. It reflects the center’s mission of preparing enlisted personnel for leadership roles in the Pacific region – a mission that began with its first graduating class in the spring of 1966.
“For the past 60 years, the Elmendorf PME Center has developed enlisted leaders who are ready to lead in one of the most strategic regions in the world,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Sarah Paine, Elmendorf PME Center deputy commandant. “This anniversary represents generations of Airmen who left here better prepared to supervise, to lead and to serve with purpose.”
U.S. Air Force enlisted PME consists of three primary courses: Airman Leadership School, the Noncommissioned Officer Academy and the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. Their curricula are developed and standardized by the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. The SNCOA course is hosted at Maxwell, but ALS and NCOA are taught locally.
While nearly every U.S. Air Force base is capable of providing ALS, NCOA is only available at 10 bases around the world. The Elmendorf center stands out as one of the few installations in the U.S. Air Force that provides both ALS and NCOA on site. Additionally, all instructors are certified to teach both courses using modern discussion-based methodologies. These capabilities constitute a material benefit to the Air Force.
“Having both ALS and NCOA here means we don’t have to send our people back to the Lower 48 to attend these courses,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Travis Porter, an Elmendorf PME instructor. “We also have the ability to send our instructors to assist at other bases in the Pacific Air Forces. There’s a real cost efficiency in that.”
The curriculum has evolved significantly over the life of the program. In the early days, the focus was on basic leadership skills and drill movements. Today, it also covers broader topics related to the reality of modern air power and focuses on physical fitness and dress and appearance.
“Learning about the Agile Combat Employment concept, including the hub-and-spoke model and multi-capable Airmen initiative, encourages new leaders to start thinking about the bigger picture strategic perspectives that exist outside of their home base,” said Porter. “We’re putting the mission in their hands and making them think critically as a leader.”
The Elmendorf center has been the site of innovation, implementing a novel version of the Commandant’s Functional Expeditionary Challenge that was conceived at the local level.
“The CFEC is a competitive, physical and mental challenge among the flights where they complete a series of functional exercises and then immediately switch to working on intellectual tasks related to the course,” said Porter. “This was the brain-child of [Elmendorf PME Center Commandant] Chief Master Sgt. Adam Petersen and it’s been really successful. In fact, the Barnes Center is evaluating our CFEC for potential Air Force-wide implementation.”
According to Porter, instructors are able to navigate lessons to meet the specific practical needs of the local mission. This includes adapting classroom discussions to cover changes to dress and appearance or PT standards as well as a program for international students that helps increase interoperability with allies and partners.
In addition to ALS and NCOA, the center hosts a variety of intermediary courses. The First Term Enlisted Course and the First Term Officer Course help orient the newest members of the military to their first base. Mandatory Foundations courses that help bridge the gap between the ALS, NCOA and SNCOA curricula are also now offered at the center.
When the inaugural class graduated in 1966, their classrooms were housed in a converted dining facility. Today, the Elmendorf PME Center is housed in a modern, purpose-built 22,000-square-foot structure with a 160-seat auditorium. The expansion and investment in PME over time speak to the critical role education plays in the modern Air Force.
The anniversary of the PME center is an opportunity for celebration and the milestone was observed during the ALS graduation ceremony at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage on March 31. Still, leadership is already looking at what comes next.
“The future of PME at JBER is centered on developing strong enlisted leaders who understand and enact mission command, who are empowered to make disciplined decisions, lead with trust, and be ready at a moment's notice to support dynamic, high-stakes environments,” said Paine.
| Date Taken: | 12.31.1969 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2026 11:55 |
| Story ID: | 561900 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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