JBSA-Lackland NCOA opens PME course in virtual classrooms

  • Published
  • By Sarayuth Pinthong
  • 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

The Robert D. Gaylor Non-Commissioned Officer Academy program at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was put on hold in March due to COVID-19.

In May, the academies were given notice that a virtual course was going to be attempted. The Barnes Center for Enlisted Education at Gunter Annex, Alabama, delegated the responsibility to design and deliver the course to each academy.

After NCOA instructors learned the new curriculum, which consisted of 30 hours of live-stream training, more than 40 hours were spent scrubbing through the new curriculum and adapting it from a 25-day in-residence course to a 19-day virtual, in-residence class.

The current class consists of 242 students located in places ranging from California to New York.

The NCOA program is the second level of enlisted Professional Military Education and prepares technical sergeants to be professional, war-fighting Airmen and Space Professionals who can manage and lead units in the employment of Air and Space power. Currently, there are 10 NCOAs worldwide.