A Close Look At The Meaning Of That Air War College Video: We’re All More Comfortable With Training Than Education

BY THOMAS E. RICKS

APRIL 1, 2015 - 10:32 AM 

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The Air War College comes in for a lot of grief on The Best Defense, but the truth is all the war colleges face similar challenges and they do so for similar reasons. Given their position at the top of the professional military education (PME) edifice, not to mention their claim on taxpayer dollars, national security types should better understand what’s going on at these schools and why. 

At the Naval War College, we try to emphasize strategic thinking and we do so via anends-ways-means approach. At the Naval War College, we try to emphasize strategic thinking and we do so via an ends-ways-means approach. Specifically, for any given situation, we ask our students to identify the goal or objective (the “end”), how that end might best be achieved (the “ways”), and what resources would be required for the effort (the “means”). For any strategy to actually support national efforts, we need to identify the correct end and then derive the correct ways and means. Mistakes or mismatches at any point in the process likely means a failed strategy and a shortchanged nation.