ACSC Introduction to Microcomputers for Air Force Leaders.

This research project has addressed a difficult, often overlooked, subject. The Air Force prides itself on being in the foreground of applying current state-of-the-art technology to the accomplishment of its mission. The subject of small computers and the application of microcomputers to the performance of the Air Force mission is a very difficult topic at best, and the Air Force has made great strides towards this goal. The relationship between the application of microcomputers and the improvement in mission performance is a topic for many research efforts. How much improvement the use of microcomputers adds to the performance of the mission is very hard to address in quantifiable terms. On the other hand, the relationship between training the users of the microcomputer and the increased productivity of those users is a fact often overlooked. In the past the policy has been to leave the training issue to the users organization. If this condition continues, the managers of these organizations will be faced with the training dilemma directly, or inherit the problem indirectly. Air Command and Staff College students being the middle managers of the present and the senior leaders of tomorrow, must acquire the knowledge to deal with these issues. This paper has attempted to address the needs assessment for expanding the curriculum of ACSC to include microcomputer training for todays Air Force leaders at the mid-point of their careers.