Orlando, Fla.—It’s time the Air Force gave clear guidance on educational requirements for enlisted airmen and officers, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh in his address at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium here on Thursday. This would give airmen time to focus on job performance rather than box-checking for promotion requirements, which are not actual requirements. On the enlisted side, airmen are still required to complete a Community College of the Air Force degree, but not a bachelor’s degree. Enlisted airmen must attend Airman Leadership School and then the Noncommissioned Officer Academy and the Senior NCO Academy for career development. However, both the NCOA and the SNCOA will transition to a “blended learning” curriculum, said Welsh. This will shrink the length of the residence course in both schools and will not repeat material covered by correspondence. A beta test of the SNCO academy correspondence section has run, and both academies will be fully operational with the new program next spring. On the officer side, Welsh said a package has gone to the Air Force Secretary’s office to make a master’s degree a requirement for promotion to colonel. “There is no requirement to have a master’s degree to get promoted . . . but everyone thinks there’s one,” he said. Officers shouldn’t feel pressured to get a master’s degree to make major, said Welsh, noting “that’s crazy.”
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
