REPORT ON AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (AFIT):
STUDY FOR SENATE AND HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEES

CHAPTER ONE

Statement of the Institute's Roles and Missions Through 2010 in Meeting the Critical Scientific and Educational Requirements of the Air Force

The institute's mission is "to provide responsive, defense-focused graduate and continuing education, mission-focused research and worldwide problem solving, and technical consultation to improve AF and joint operational capability." Within AFIT, the Graduate School of Engineering and Management has the primary responsibility for meeting the USAF's requirements in scientific and engineering education. The graduate school's mission is "to produce graduates and research that enable the AF to maintain its defense- related scientific and technological dominance." Supporting both the AF and DoD organizations with operationally focused research and consultation on scientific and technical problems is integral to the graduate school's mission.

AFIT has developed its requirements from its own educational and research programs and a wide variety of official sources including:

- The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff's strategic vision statements, including Joint Vision 2020, and its predecessors;

- The AF's strategic vision statements including Vision 2020: America's Air Force and its predecessors;

- Other AF-level planning documents including "1998 Air Force Long-Range Strategic Plan";

- Official advisory panel studies including the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board's 15-volume, "New World Vistas: Air and Space Power for the 21st Century";

- AFIT faculty members' participation in Air University alternative future operational environment studies including "Spacecast 2020" (SECAF study completed in the early 1990s) and "Air Force 2025" (Chief of Staff follow-on study conducted in the mid-1990s);

- AF major commands' (MAJCOM) strategic plans;

- Air Force Research Laboratory technology area plans;

- Current joint and AF doctrine publications; and

- AFIT contacts with AF and other DoD organizations, especially concerning long-range education and research priorities.

These sources provide AFIT with an informed view of the potential environments for future AF operations and the technology necessary for successful military operations. In keeping with its mission, AFIT focuses its research and education programs to support both current and future AF and other DoD technology needs. AFIT's strategic focus extrapolates and supports concepts developed from the previously identified source document mission statements. These mission statements allow Air Education and Training Command (AETC), Headquarters Air University (HQ AU), and AFIT the flexibility to adapt to a rapidly changing technological environment.

AFIT will continue to identify future AF and DoD needs in curricula development, research and consultation efforts. For instance, AFIT's research efforts have kept pace with emerging scientific and technological trends. AFIT has also built appropriate support curricula in state-of-the-art fields including information operations and space operations.