Whether your child is right out of high school or has completed college or postgraduate studies, we value education and want to help your child grow their skills and knowledge. We offer a number of tuition assistance plans for higher education, in addition to our own unique training programs tailored to your child’s specific career path.
Basic Military Training (BMT)
Your son or daughter’s journey to become an Airman begins at BMT. Recruits work extremely hard and are pushed to realize their full potential, but our support is unwavering throughout the entire eight-and-a-half-week period. To learn more about what your trainee will experience week-by-week, visit our Basic Training feature.
Technical Training
Enlisted Airmen who complete Air Force Basic Training will move on to technical training, where they’ll go from raw recruit to trained professional faster than they ever could in the civilian world. Training is a mix of academics, classroom instruction and hands-on learning in your child’s career field. To learn more about this intense yet rewarding program, visit our Technical Training feature.
Enlisted Education Programs
The education enlisted Air Force members receive goes far beyond career training. Our goal is to provide members with programs that will help them reach their goals and tap into their ultimate potential.
We are the home of America’s largest community college, the Community College of the Air Force, in which every enlisted Airman is automatically enrolled. For more details on this and other programs, visit our Enlisted Education section.
Officer Training
If your child enters the Air Force as an officer, training is a rigorous nine and a half weeks. During this intensive training period, your son or daughter will learn to lead the men and women of the United States Air Force. Their daily schedule will involve physical conditioning, skills and leadership training and classwork. For more details, visit the Officer Training School website, or visit the Commissioned Officer Training School website if your child will be coming in as a healthcare, legal or religious professional.
Officer Education Programs
While all Air Force Officers have college degrees, we don’t expect them to stop there. There are opportunities for graduate study at both Air Force and civilian institutions, in addition to training programs such as Squadron Officer School (SOS), which allows officers to step out of their specialty and focus on becoming better leaders. To learn more about this and other programs, visit our Officer Education section.
Financial Assistance
There are several ways Airmen can receive financial assistance for education, including the Air Force Tuition Assistance Program, the Montgomery GI Bill and the College Loan Repayment Program. Air Force ROTC program is another way your child can earn partial or full scholarships during high school or college. Other options include the Scholarship for Outstanding Airman to ROTC (SOAR), Professional Officers Course-Early Release Program (POC-ERP) and the Airmen Scholarship and Commissioning Program (ASCP).
Have questions about your child’s education? Feel free to chat with an Air Force adviser to learn more about any of these opportunities.