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Professional military education is not just box ticking for promotion—a continuum of air and space power education is required to build professional mastery and maintain professional currency.

The main theme of the 2026 Air and Space Power Conference was “building fighting depth” and the Aviator Symposium was “the airminded warfighter.” However, a question that came up repeatedly during the event was “what success actually looks like”? Instead of asking what success looks like now, ask what it would look like decades from now if these ideas had truly taken hold.

Education is highly valued in the Air Force, with the acquisition of highly specialised skills and expertise being an integral component of one's career progression. Training comes in various forms, including mandatory, specialist, on-the-job, and professional military education. In addition to these forms of training, members of the Air Force have access to opportunities for scholarship, where they can apply for graduate programs at Masters and PhD level through civilian universities. These programs afford individuals the chance to focus on a particular "problem" for Defence, dedicating an extended period of time to research and scholarship.

Dr. Martin Luther King said that a leader does not search for consensus, they mould it (2010).

David TurnbullAustralian Defence ForceIn my previous blog (Turnbull, 2026), I explored the foundational work of building self-awareness, embracing