The Squadron Commander's Responsibility for Officer Professional Development

Squadron commanders (Sq/CCs), as Air Force leaders, have a duty to help create futureleaders. While officer professional development (OPD) is a duty Sq/CCs take seriously, it is aconcept that does not have a common understanding in the Air Force. This paper synthesizes relevant Air Force doctrine and instructions to create an OPD framework that is consistent withthe Air Forces overall force development strategy. Based on this OPD framework, this paperargues that Sq/CCs have a responsibility to professionally develop their officers in five categories: training, education, experience, career guidance, and leadership. This framework can be used by Sq/CCs to reflect, plan, and execute OPD for their assigned officers in a manner that supports the Air Forces existing professional development construct. After describing these responsibilities, this paper concludes with three recommendations. First, the Air Force should rescind or update the current OPD Air Force Instruction. Second, the Air Force should provide coherent OPD guidance, using the 5-category framework. Third, the Air Force should create an online repository for Sq/CCs to access OPD related materials.