AFIT traces its roots to the early days of powered flight when it was apparent that the progress of military aviation depended upon special education in this new science. In 1919, the Air School of Application was established at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, the home of Orville and Wilbur Wright. When Congress authorized creation of the Air Corps in 1926, the school was renamed the Air Corps Engineering School and moved to Wright Field in 1927. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the school suspended classes, but it reopened as the Army Air Forces Engineering School in 1944 to conduct a series of accelerated courses to meet emergency requirements.
After World War II, in 1946, the Army Air Force Institute of Technology was established as part of the Air Materiel Command. The institute was composed of two colleges: Engineering and Maintenance, and Logistics and Procurement. These colleges were later redesignated the College of Engineering Sciences and the College of Industrial Administration. When the Air Force became a separate service in 1947, the institute was renamed the Air Force Institute of Technology. That same year, the School of Civil Engineering Special Staff Officer's Course began. In 1948 civilian institution programs were transferred to AFIT to support Air Force educational requirements through graduate and professional continuing education and research at civilian universities, hospitals, research centers, and corporations. There are many programs within the civilian institution programs which are mainly divided between graduate and medical programs.
In 1950, command jurisdiction of AFIT shifted from Air Materiel Command to Air University (AU) with headquarters at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The institute, however, remained at what was now known as Wright-Patterson AFB. In 1951, the two AFIT colleges were combined into the Resident College. The institute established a logistics education program at WPAFB in 1955, and the Ohio State University conducted the first courses on a contract basis. In 1958, AFIT began a series of short courses in logistics as part of the Air Force Logistics Command Education Center. Later that year, the School of Logistics became a permanent part of AFIT.
In 1954, the 83rd Congress authorized the Commander, Air University, to confer degrees upon persons in the AFIT Resident College. The college was later divided into the School of Engineering, the School of Logistics, and the School of Business. The first undergraduate engineering degrees were granted in 1956, and the first graduate degrees in business in 1958. The School of Business programs were transferred to civilian universities in 1960.
In 1963, the School of Logistics was redesignated the School of Systems and Logistics. The Civil Engineering Center was also redesignated as the Civil Engineering School.
In 1967, AFIT became a member of the Dayton Miami Valley Consortium (DMVC), which later changed its name to Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE). The council is an association of colleges, universities, and industrial organizations in the Dayton area which are united to promote educational advancement. AFIT has traditionally been active in both the council and in other community and interinstitutional programs.
Beginning with students entering in 1975, the doctoral program at AFIT was lengthened to three years, and students were expected to complete all requirements, including the dissertation, while assigned to AFIT. The program was redesignated as a Ph.D. program.
In 1979, the AFIT Association of Graduates instituted a means of recognizing AFIT graduates whose contributions not only reflected their AFIT education, but also significantly enhanced the Air Force mission. The recipients of the AFIT Distinguished Alumni Award are AFIT graduates who have made significant contributions to our nation and who, through their inquisitive minds and extraordinary achievements, exemplify the AFIT ideal of excellence through knowledge.
In 1985, the baccalaureate level program was terminated.
In 1991, the Commandant’s slot was downgraded from a general officer position to a colonel position.
In 1995, a consortium of graduate engineering colleges in Ohio chartered a not-for-profit corporation, the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute (DAGSI). The State of Ohio supplies funding for scholarships and research. Member institutions are AFIT, Wright State University, the University of Dayton, the Ohio State University (affiliate member), and the University of Cincinnati (affiliate member). The DAGSI scholarship program provides support to graduate students in engineering and computer science, with the objectives of strengthening the educational programs at the DAGSI partner institutions and benefiting local and regional industry by developing talented, highly skilled candidates for the engineering workforce. The scholarships are funded by the state of Ohio, under the Ohio Board of Regents.
Also in 1995, AFIT established its first program to be offered at a distant location. The Air Mobility Program, taught at Fort Dix, New Jersey, is a yearlong program designed to provide officers assigned to Air Mobility Command the opportunity to further their education in a course of instruction specifically designed to enhance their expertise as operational airlift logistics experts.
Early in fiscal year 1997, the Secretary of the Air Force made a decision to close the Air Force Institute of Technology resident graduate schools. In anticipation of closure, the institute developed and began a transition and closure plan. Resident Ph.D. students scheduled for fiscal year 1997 were diverted to the Civilian Institution Program and a transition plan for actual closure was developed, identifying manpower positions for elimination in fiscal years 1997 through 2000.
In April 1998, after a visit by the Acting Secretary of the Air Force, F. Whitten Peters, AFIT announced a reversal of the Air Force decision to terminate the institute’s resident graduate programs. AFIT was to continue a restructuring initiative begun in fiscal year 1996 that would size the resident graduate programs to meet the Air Force education requirements of the fiscal year 2003 force structure. As part of this restructuring, the two resident graduate schools were merged into the Graduate School of Engineering and Management on 1 October 1999.
In 2002, the Secretaries of the Air Force and Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement forming an Educational Alliance between the two services. The Superintendent of the Naval Post Graduate School and the Commandant of AFIT execute their missions as two universities within one system—the Alliance. Each university has graduate and continuing education programs, as well as faculty expertise and research facilities, not currently offered by the other but that is beneficial for both services.
In 2003, the Commandant’s position was upgraded to a general officer slot.
At the direction of the Secretary of the Air Force, AFIT became the home of the Air Force Center for Systems Engineering in February 2003. The CSE builds on AFIT’s twenty plus years of systems engineering expertise, working to strengthen and expand the existing SE program within the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, and to provide additional assistance to the Air Force in the areas of policy recommendations, consultation, and case study development. In addition, AFIT is home to six other centers of excellence—the Center for Directed Energy, the Center for Information Security Education and Research, the Center for Measurement and Signature Intelligence Studies and Research, the Center for Operational Analysis, the Advanced Navigation Technology Center, and the Center for Space Studies and Research.
Early in 2004, leaders from the University of New Mexico and the U.S. Air Force signed an agreement to allow Air Force officers and civilians to earn advanced degrees in science, technology and management by combining credits from the University of New Mexico and the Air Force Institute of Technology.
In March 2004, more than 200 scientists and engineers received graduate and doctoral degrees from AFIT, bringing the total number of graduates to more than 15,000. Under the initiative of the Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. James G. Roche, the school’s first enlisted students received master’s degrees as part of that class—eight Air Force and six Marine Corps senior noncommissioned officers.
Also in 2004, AFIT expanded the number of opportunities available to its officers to obtain their in-residence Intermediate Developmental Education (formerly ISS) to include graduate school. The faculty of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management subsequently approved a set of graduate programs that support AFIT’s role in providing the Air Force with alternatives to traditionally available IDE choices. Master’s degree programs are available in the departments that meet the needs of Air Force officers who have been selected by a board for an in-residence IDE opportunity.
Some of the most accomplished engineers and scientists in Air Force history are alumni of the Air Force Institute of Technology. Air Force pioneers General George Kenney, General Jimmy Doolittle, and General Bernard Schriever attended Air Force Institute of Technology programs prior to the time degrees were conferred. General Lawrence Skantze, who culminated his career as the commander of Air Force Systems Command, was one of the early degree graduates. Major General William Anders and fellow astronaut Colonel Guion Bluford also attained graduate degrees at AFIT. On 4 July 2006, AFIT graduates Commander Steve Lindsey and Astronaut Mike Fossum were on the “Return to Flight” Discovery space shuttle.
The future promises to be even more challenging than the past, but AFIT will continue to provide the environment and the opportunity for Air Force personnel to develop the professional and technological skills needed to master this dynamic challenge.
vma-sjs-03082006
After World War II, in 1946, the Army Air Force Institute of Technology was established as part of the Air Materiel Command. The institute was composed of two colleges: Engineering and Maintenance, and Logistics and Procurement. These colleges were later redesignated the College of Engineering Sciences and the College of Industrial Administration. When the Air Force became a separate service in 1947, the institute was renamed the Air Force Institute of Technology. That same year, the School of Civil Engineering Special Staff Officer's Course began. In 1948 civilian institution programs were transferred to AFIT to support Air Force educational requirements through graduate and professional continuing education and research at civilian universities, hospitals, research centers, and corporations. There are many programs within the civilian institution programs which are mainly divided between graduate and medical programs.
In 1950, command jurisdiction of AFIT shifted from Air Materiel Command to Air University (AU) with headquarters at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The institute, however, remained at what was now known as Wright-Patterson AFB. In 1951, the two AFIT colleges were combined into the Resident College. The institute established a logistics education program at WPAFB in 1955, and the Ohio State University conducted the first courses on a contract basis. In 1958, AFIT began a series of short courses in logistics as part of the Air Force Logistics Command Education Center. Later that year, the School of Logistics became a permanent part of AFIT.
In 1954, the 83rd Congress authorized the Commander, Air University, to confer degrees upon persons in the AFIT Resident College. The college was later divided into the School of Engineering, the School of Logistics, and the School of Business. The first undergraduate engineering degrees were granted in 1956, and the first graduate degrees in business in 1958. The School of Business programs were transferred to civilian universities in 1960.
In 1963, the School of Logistics was redesignated the School of Systems and Logistics. The Civil Engineering Center was also redesignated as the Civil Engineering School.
In 1967, AFIT became a member of the Dayton Miami Valley Consortium (DMVC), which later changed its name to Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE). The council is an association of colleges, universities, and industrial organizations in the Dayton area which are united to promote educational advancement. AFIT has traditionally been active in both the council and in other community and interinstitutional programs.
Beginning with students entering in 1975, the doctoral program at AFIT was lengthened to three years, and students were expected to complete all requirements, including the dissertation, while assigned to AFIT. The program was redesignated as a Ph.D. program.
In 1979, the AFIT Association of Graduates instituted a means of recognizing AFIT graduates whose contributions not only reflected their AFIT education, but also significantly enhanced the Air Force mission. The recipients of the AFIT Distinguished Alumni Award are AFIT graduates who have made significant contributions to our nation and who, through their inquisitive minds and extraordinary achievements, exemplify the AFIT ideal of excellence through knowledge.
In 1985, the baccalaureate level program was terminated.
In 1991, the Commandant’s slot was downgraded from a general officer position to a colonel position.
In 1995, a consortium of graduate engineering colleges in Ohio chartered a not-for-profit corporation, the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute (DAGSI). The State of Ohio supplies funding for scholarships and research. Member institutions are AFIT, Wright State University, the University of Dayton, the Ohio State University (affiliate member), and the University of Cincinnati (affiliate member). The DAGSI scholarship program provides support to graduate students in engineering and computer science, with the objectives of strengthening the educational programs at the DAGSI partner institutions and benefiting local and regional industry by developing talented, highly skilled candidates for the engineering workforce. The scholarships are funded by the state of Ohio, under the Ohio Board of Regents.
Also in 1995, AFIT established its first program to be offered at a distant location. The Air Mobility Program, taught at Fort Dix, New Jersey, is a yearlong program designed to provide officers assigned to Air Mobility Command the opportunity to further their education in a course of instruction specifically designed to enhance their expertise as operational airlift logistics experts.
Early in fiscal year 1997, the Secretary of the Air Force made a decision to close the Air Force Institute of Technology resident graduate schools. In anticipation of closure, the institute developed and began a transition and closure plan. Resident Ph.D. students scheduled for fiscal year 1997 were diverted to the Civilian Institution Program and a transition plan for actual closure was developed, identifying manpower positions for elimination in fiscal years 1997 through 2000.
In April 1998, after a visit by the Acting Secretary of the Air Force, F. Whitten Peters, AFIT announced a reversal of the Air Force decision to terminate the institute’s resident graduate programs. AFIT was to continue a restructuring initiative begun in fiscal year 1996 that would size the resident graduate programs to meet the Air Force education requirements of the fiscal year 2003 force structure. As part of this restructuring, the two resident graduate schools were merged into the Graduate School of Engineering and Management on 1 October 1999.
In 2002, the Secretaries of the Air Force and Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement forming an Educational Alliance between the two services. The Superintendent of the Naval Post Graduate School and the Commandant of AFIT execute their missions as two universities within one system—the Alliance. Each university has graduate and continuing education programs, as well as faculty expertise and research facilities, not currently offered by the other but that is beneficial for both services.
In 2003, the Commandant’s position was upgraded to a general officer slot.
At the direction of the Secretary of the Air Force, AFIT became the home of the Air Force Center for Systems Engineering in February 2003. The CSE builds on AFIT’s twenty plus years of systems engineering expertise, working to strengthen and expand the existing SE program within the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, and to provide additional assistance to the Air Force in the areas of policy recommendations, consultation, and case study development. In addition, AFIT is home to six other centers of excellence—the Center for Directed Energy, the Center for Information Security Education and Research, the Center for Measurement and Signature Intelligence Studies and Research, the Center for Operational Analysis, the Advanced Navigation Technology Center, and the Center for Space Studies and Research.
Early in 2004, leaders from the University of New Mexico and the U.S. Air Force signed an agreement to allow Air Force officers and civilians to earn advanced degrees in science, technology and management by combining credits from the University of New Mexico and the Air Force Institute of Technology.
In March 2004, more than 200 scientists and engineers received graduate and doctoral degrees from AFIT, bringing the total number of graduates to more than 15,000. Under the initiative of the Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. James G. Roche, the school’s first enlisted students received master’s degrees as part of that class—eight Air Force and six Marine Corps senior noncommissioned officers.
Also in 2004, AFIT expanded the number of opportunities available to its officers to obtain their in-residence Intermediate Developmental Education (formerly ISS) to include graduate school. The faculty of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management subsequently approved a set of graduate programs that support AFIT’s role in providing the Air Force with alternatives to traditionally available IDE choices. Master’s degree programs are available in the departments that meet the needs of Air Force officers who have been selected by a board for an in-residence IDE opportunity.
Some of the most accomplished engineers and scientists in Air Force history are alumni of the Air Force Institute of Technology. Air Force pioneers General George Kenney, General Jimmy Doolittle, and General Bernard Schriever attended Air Force Institute of Technology programs prior to the time degrees were conferred. General Lawrence Skantze, who culminated his career as the commander of Air Force Systems Command, was one of the early degree graduates. Major General William Anders and fellow astronaut Colonel Guion Bluford also attained graduate degrees at AFIT. On 4 July 2006, AFIT graduates Commander Steve Lindsey and Astronaut Mike Fossum were on the “Return to Flight” Discovery space shuttle.
The future promises to be even more challenging than the past, but AFIT will continue to provide the environment and the opportunity for Air Force personnel to develop the professional and technological skills needed to master this dynamic challenge.
vma-sjs-03082006
