Chief Leadership Course to be revised for future missions > Altus Air Force Base > View article

The Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education is developing a new Chief Leader Course (CLC) with an increased focus on providing chiefs with the education they need to meet challenges and excel in an era of great power competition.

“We are constantly striving to improve our curriculum and courses,” said Colonel Damian Schlussel, commander of the Barnes Center. “Our chiefs have a tremendous influence on our troops, so we must provide them with the best professional military training possible – especially at a time of such critical importance.”

Located at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the CLC provides the highest level of professional military training for Air Force enlisted personnel.

Following the final class for fiscal year 2024 graduates in September, the CLC will pause for approximately nine months. During this time, senior command and combatant command officials, subject matter experts and Air University cadre will use assessments, data collection and feedback from field leaders and recent graduates to shape a new class for 2025.

“We are committed to offering a course that provides more depth and rigor than we have previously offered. Two weeks was frankly not enough time to achieve the results we need at this level of leadership,” said Chief Master Sgt. Bridget Bruhn, Barnes Center command chief. “We need to go deeper into topics such as operational collaboration with partners, mission command and joint warfare to master today's fight.”

Air University will continue to offer courses for chief master sergeants during the CLC pause, including the Chiefs Orientation Course, Squadron Leadership Development Course, Pre-Command Team Training and the Strategic Leadership Course. Barnes Center officials will provide additional details and updates in the coming months as the CLC restructuring progresses.

“Air Force leadership had a decision to make,” said Chief Master Sgt. Chad Bickley, Air Education and Training Command commander. “We could consider incremental changes to the current course over a few years, or we could pause to accelerate the delivery of a new course that meets the needs of the complex military challenges facing our joint force. We decided now is the time to go ahead and make the changes necessary to develop an enhanced basic chief course that is completely focused on improving combat advantages.”