USAF Area Specialist Program

In the years following its establishment as a separate service, the Air Force was preoccupied with the development of an advanced technology and the hardware to counter a very real and capable enemy. Through the late 1940s and the 1950s, the drive for military technological superiority eclipsed any need the Air Force might have had for sophistication or advanced training in military sociopolitical affairs. This trend was given further impetus by the 1957 launching of Sputnik I and the subsequent development of intercontinental ballistic missile systems by the United States.

By the mid-1960s, there had developed an increasing awareness of the importance of the “human” element, both within the Air Force and in its external relations. Internally, members of the Air Force were requesting a bit more understanding, the elimination of irritants, and a “humanizing” of policies and procedures. The late 1960s saw the generation and development of Air Force “people” awareness in our official personnel policies and in our Special Operations, Intelligence, and Military Assistance programs. The Officer Career Development Program, Airman Career Advisory programs, Human Relations programs, TOPLINE, etc., are all indicative of this growing awareness that the individual human being is a key to success of the Air Force mission.

In overseas areas, a number of incidents and misunderstandings led to recognition of the need to understand the attitudes and beliefs of the people of other countries. The Air Force was sometimes caught in the situation where years of carefully cultivated relations were suddenly lost because of the behavior or attitudes of one or two Air Force members. Officials of other nations did not always understand or deal with us by our standards or on our terms.

Conversely, those military officers who were effective and respected overseas were highly visible. The most effective usually proved to be senior officers who knew the language and the customs of the country: a Marine colonel in Morocco who spoke fluent Arabic, an Army attaché in the Far East who spoke Chinese, a Navy captain who could deal with his NATO counterpart in his own language during joint Mediterranean maneuvers. All too frequently these exceptional officers were from the other services.

Awareness of these human understanding problems overseas has come at the same time the Air Force has been developing its internal “people” programs. While the internal programs have been subject to considerable publicity, a program to cope with some of our international understanding problems has been quietly evolving. The USAF Area Specialist Program (ASP) develops area specialists who can combine an understanding of a foreign language with a comprehensive knowledge of the culture, government, economics, and geography of an overseas area. The program is maturing into an integrated procurement, training, and utilization system for highly selected area specialists. Only by understanding people on their own terms can we become really effective in dealing with them and in communicating our beliefs and ideals to them.

The Air Force need for officers trained in the language and culture of other areas of the world has been talked about for a number of years. It was formally recognized as early as 1965 in the reports and recommendations of the Air Force Educational Requirements Board.¹ In 1967 the need for such a training program was stressed in correspondence from a number of AF commands and agencies to the Air Staff. As a result of the interest expressed, an Air Force-wide meeting was convened by the Deputy Chief of Staff/Personnel at the Pentagon in May 1968.² At this meeting, interested Air Force agencies reviewed the Army Foreign Area Specialist Training (FAST) Program and discussed what kind of program would best meet the unique needs of the Air Force. In addition, Air Staff representatives briefed participants on current and anticipated Air Force personnel plans and the relationship of the committee’s work to such guidance.³ Research tasks were assigned to all conference participants to prepare for a follow-on conference.

When the ad hoc committee met again in May 1969, it was treated to an exceptional keynote address by Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas, who was then Commander, USAF Special Operations Force. General Cardenas challenged the conferees to think beyond traditional area study and to have both breadth and depth in the proposed AF program. He said, in part:

Since Korea, we have seen the pattern of warfare evolve which requires the military officer to have a deeper and broader understanding of the political aspects of conflict in addition to being an expert in the employment of an increasingly complex array of fighting hardware. We have also seen the requirement for this political-military understanding reach down from what was formerly a general officer’s exclusive province to be essential in the effective performance of duty by a junior officer and often an NCO. The individual, military or civilian, serving in areas of conflict today who does not understand the environment in which he is working can, many times, cause infinitely more harm than he can do good, however well intentioned are his efforts.

Unequivocally, the USAF foreign area specialist must be first and foremost qualified in his Air Force specialty.

The second qualification I think our area specialist should have is the right attitude. We have to select people who have a genuine interest, not only in the area, but the people in the area where he is going to serve.

. . . a third qualification is to have our candidate area-oriented. We will have to begin this process before we are sure about the potential candidate’s capability to fulfill the first two qualifications. I think this only serves to point up the need for a broad base of potential area specialists and the need to be extremely discriminating in our final selection process.⁴

This concept of the Area Specialist Program was readily accepted by the conference, and the three qualifications outlined by General Cardenas have become the key operational concepts of the program.

The May 1969 meeting concluded without resolving some of the problem areas, such as personnel identification and coding, selection procedures, language training, etc. Tasks were again assigned, and a third meeting of the committee was scheduled for the fall of 1969.⁵

This conference was held at the USAF Academy in November 1969. The meeting place was most appropriate, since the Academy had recently developed area specialty majors in its curriculum and had a number of qualified area specialists on its faculty. At this meeting, participants agreed on several general operating concepts for the program, including a stress on technical skills, language training, and career flexibility. The conference entertained a number of suggestions for a name for the program; the one agreed upon was simple: the USAF Area Specialist Program. The conference concluded that there would be several possible avenues into the program: by prior education, by in-country experience, or through Air Force-sponsored graduate educational programs. The committee reviewed and modified a draft of an Air Force regulation concerning the program. Language training and its phasing with an educational program were discussed but not completely resolved. The matter of AF-wide requirements for area specialists was dealt with at length, and the committee concluded that work must go forward on identifying specific duty positions as requiring area specialist officers.⁶

The ad hoc committee adjourned without the expectation of further meetings. The ball passed, so to speak, to responsible Hq USAF agencies to work through the remaining problems and publish a comprehensive Air Force regulation to formally establish the program, which is being staffed now and tentatively identified as AFR 36—16.

Concurrent with the initial area specialist conference, the Air Force educational process began to include area specialist educational programs in the annual Air Force Institute of Technology programs.⁷ For the fiscal years 70, 71, and 72, these programs have represented the bulk of social science quotas in the AFIT program, with input into Intelligence, OSI, Special Operations, and Psychological Warfare career areas and a few quotas forecasted in Education, Security Police, Military Assistance, and Plans and Policy.⁸

As a result of a joint Hq USAF, AU, AFIT, and AFMPC meeting held in February 1971 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, a new coding system was implemented through appropriate changes to AFM’S 36-1, 50-5, and 300-4. Now each area specialist officer will have an “L” prefix to his authorized input Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC). He will also have a three-digit special experience identifier (SEI) corresponding to his area of specialization. The geographic areas which can be identified in this system are as follows:

AREA	SEI
Western Europe	435
Eastern Europe	436
Soviet Union	437
North Africa	438
Sub-Sahara	439
Middle East	440
South Asia	441
Mediterranean	442
Southeast Asia	443
Caribbean	444
Latin America	445
Far East	446

This coding system has as its prime objective the proper identification for career assignment utilization of these uniquely qualified resources.

Basically, the academic program for area specialists incorporates a master’s degree with interdisciplinary course work and language training. Depending on prior language proficiency and particular country or area for which instruction is desired, a selectee’s program will average fifteen to eighteen months. A person who has an adequate grasp of the area language can normally complete his academic program in twelve months. One who has no prior language capability and will need conversational proficiency in an Asian tongue may need a longer program.

The formal academic program for a selectee may be in the area (as an M.A. in Latin American Studies) or in a specific academic subject matter with an area emphasis. Academic subject areas include political science, history, language, cultural geography, international economics, and anthropology.

Determination as to specific program emphasis is influenced by the major academic field (MAF) code for which the officer is identified, his undergraduate background, his present language capability, and the specific requirements of the assignment, if known. These factors interact in each case to determine an optimum program that will qualify the individual in minimum time.

The civilian school (as well as the department) to be attended is a crucial factor in the Area Specialist Program. Once a country or region is identified for a selectee and a language specified, research must be initiated to find an academic institution that (1) will accept the officer, (2) has a meaningful program to meet the specific USAF area specialist requirements, and (3) can schedule courses to permit completion in a realistic but meaningful time frame.

Many universities and colleges have established programs in Latin American Studies, Western European Studies, African Studies, East European/Soviet Studies, Mid-Eastern Studies, Asian (South, East, Southeast) Studies, but some may lack the specific foreign language, dialect, or conversational emphasis needed to prepare an area specialist officer. In that event, attendance at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey, California, or Washington, D.C., may be essential after completion of formal course work at the university. Meaningful programs can be developed in schools not hosting such area specialist programs, per se, through a liberal interdepartmental policy allowing a selectee to major in one department for degree attainment and enrich his area emphasis by taking interdisciplinary courses and language exposure in associated departments.

Both approaches are currently being employed by AFIT, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of a given institution’s preparation is periodically undertaken to provide AFIT with valid management data to plan for future training.

Schools currently used by Air Force students with particular area emphasis include
University of Alabama—Latin America
University of Arizona—Asia, Latin
    America
University of Denver—Middle East
Florida State University—Asia, Latin
    America, West/East Europe, Soviet
    Union
Indiana University—Soviet Union,
    Europe
Michigan State University—Europe,
    Africa, Latin America
University of Michigan—Asia, Europe
University of Notre Dame—Europe,
    Soviet Union, Latin America, Africa
Oklahoma State University—Latin
America
San Diego State College—Asia, Latin
    America
Saint Mary’s University—Latin America
Stanford University—Asia
University of Texas—Latin America
Washington State University—Europe
University of Washington—Asia

Obviously, some schools, either because of facilities available, number of faculty assigned, or program longevity, offer better developed area specialist programs than others. AFIT’S task is to match selected officers with interested, capable schools that will work with the student and with AFIT to prepare the man properly. Only by working together in this way can we develop qualified area specialists who will be truly effective representatives of the United States Air Force in overseas areas.

The Military Assistance Advisory Groups (MAAG), the air attaché system, U.S. embassies having USAF representation, the USAF Special Air Warfare School, Special Operations Force, the intelligence community (AF/IN, DIA), and the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) are the prime users of officers receiving area specialist training. Other assignments for area specialists include duty with overseas commands (PACAF, USAFE, etc.); academic programs, as at Air Force Academy, Inter-American Academy; government agencies such as Department of State; Air Staff; and other special positions.

Proper communication between AFIT, the USAF Military Personnel Center, and these users can result in placing the right man with the required training in the specific country or area needing his particular background and experience. In this respect, perhaps the most effective coordination to date has been that evidenced with the selectees for the Office of Special Investigations.

Fulfilling USAF area specialist requirements and satisfying particular needs with regard to specific end assignments can be illustrated by the following example.

An officer nominated by OSI has been selected for the AFIT-sponsored Middle East area specialist program by AFMPC and has been tagged by OSI for subsequent assignment to Turkey. OSI makes this tentative end assignment known to AFIT and the requirement that the officer possess R-3, S-3 proficiency in the Turkish language. Civilian Institutions (AFIT/CI), after reviewing the officer’s records and the programs of a number of schools, submits this officer’s academic credentials to the University of Utah. He is found to be academically acceptable for admission by the university and is subsequently enrolled in the Middle East Center under the direction of Dr. Khosrow Mostofi. The eighteen-month program gives him thorough course work, directed reading, and research on the Turkish culture, and includes language exposure through the intermediate level.

Since he was already fully qualified in his technical specialty, the officer will be assigned, upon graduation, to an OSI office in Turkey for direct and immediate utilization of his training.

A specific need is being satisfied for a particular user in support of an established Air Force requirement. That officer’s effectiveness in-country will reflect how well the system has worked.

Hopefully, the end product will be a better informed and more receptive USAF officer in that area of concern: an Air Force officer whose overall capability and area knowledge have been to a great degree enhanced by education provided through the Area Specialist Program.

As a result of the success of the model OSI Area Specialist Program, AFM 50-5, USAF Formal Schools Catalog, now requires an individual desiring to enter the Area Specialist Program to obtain a sponsoring agency such as Intelligence, Special Operations, Military Assistance, Plans and Policy, or OSI. The sponsoring agency will try to assure utilization in a specific end assignment before asking AFIT to evaluate an applicant academically.⁹

The Civilian Institutions Program manager for ASP then assists AFIT admissions in determining if the applicant is eligible for a particular area program and how long such an interdisciplinary/cross-cultural program should take. The sponsoring agency will then be informed of this evaluation, and any subsequent adjustment in programming can be made prior to the applicant’s military screening by the AF Military Personnel Center. Once selected, the officer can then be educated against a specific country/area assignment instead of merely against a generalized quota, as had been the case prior to FY 1972.

Officers educated through this system are already on assignments in a number of overseas areas, and the number will grow with the FY 1972 graduates. It is too early now for the Air Force to measure the value of such training in terms of increased effectiveness or measurable improvements in our international relations.

In this article we have stressed the academic phase of the program since it is presently the most visible portion of the system. However, the Air Force has many individuals who by prior education or experience are already well qualified to be designated as area specialists—those who have gained their knowledge and language firsthand. Formal identification of some of these individuals was completed in late 1971 under Change 5, AFM 36-1, Officer Classification Manual.

A key problem remains in identifying those positions in the Air Force which need the services of an area specialist and verifying the language and other qualifications required. This work is proceeding but requires very careful review to insure that the area specialists will be properly utilized.

The rate of progress in the overall development of this program can best be described as “deliberate.” It has gone from a recommendation in 1965 to a fully staffed proposal in 1970. Some of the most difficult problems, those of coding and identification within the Air Force personnel system, were finally resolved in 1971. Today, its academic phase is a reality, with students studying in a number of major universities and the first graduates already in the field. We expect that the care and deliberation with which the program has been developed will pay large dividends in the future. As General Cardenas said in closing his address to the 1969 conference:

I think we have a great opportunity in the development of our Area Specialist Program to take advantage of the lessons we and other services and agencies have learned worldwide. If we use this opportunity wisely, I’m sure we can develop individuals who can make significant contributions to the USAF and the U.S. government capabilities to cope with international problems.¹⁰

1. Air Force Educational Requirements Board, Panel Report of Qualitative Educational Requirements for the Security Career Area, April 1965.

3. Hq USAF, Directorate of Personnel Planning, DCS/Personnel, Foreign Area Specialist Training Program, undated.

4. Brigadier General Robert L. Cardenas, Keynote Speech, Foreign Area Specialist Conference, May 1969, USAF Academy.

9. AFIT section of AFM 50-5, USAF Formal School Catalog, 1 July 1971 (para 5c (6), page 3-AFlT-5).

Major James S. Austin, Jr. (M.A., Saint Mary’s University of San Antonio) is Manager, Special Programs Division, Civilian Institutions Directorate, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. From 1961 to 1969 he held assignments in OSI district offices in San Antonio and Republic of Vietnam and as instructor, USAF Special Investigations School, Washington, D.C. In 1966-67 he was Assistant Professor of Aerospace Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

Major Jimmy L. Mitchell (M.A., Ohio State University) is a test psychologist, Det 17, ATC, Lackland AFB, Texas, following duty in Civilian Institutions Directorate, AFIT, as Arts and Social Science Program Manager and Executive Officer, 1966-71. Commissioned from OTS in 1960 after two years as psychiatric clinic technician, USAF Hospital, Wright-Patterson AFB, he served as police or combat defense officer state-side and in Morocco until selection for AFIT at Ohio State. Major Mitchell is a graduate of Squadron Officer School.

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.