Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Commandant's Welcome
Welcome to SAASS Online!
Feel free to look around and see what goes on at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. We have assembled a world-class faculty to lead a small, handpicked student body of mid-grade officers through the most rigorous fully-accredited strategic studies program in the Department of Defense.
With a twenty-three year proven track record of success, and over a thousand graduates--many filling senior leadership positions in the US and allied air forces and defense industries--we are passionate about building a better future though the education we offer.
At the core of our program is a one-year in-residence Master of Philosophy degree in Military Strategy. For a select cadre of our top graduates we also offer a Doctorate of Philosophy in Military Strategy. Our emphasis is not on military operations, per se, but rather on the strategic nexus where military and security professionals interact with decision makers on policy, diplomacy, international relations, geopolitics, and matters of military and political theory. In short, we take air, space, and cyber-minded officers and educate them to become strategists at the national level where the military tool--airpower in particular--is contemplated as one of several instruments of power that may (or may not) be appropriate for achieving national objectives.
Our students read extensively, write prolifically, and are thrust into debates where their skills of rhetoric are tested, weighed, and measured--as much by their peers as by their professors. We seek not only those who can make an argument, but those who can gather and use evidence correctly, incorporate new ideas and ways of thinking, and can accommodate diversity of opinion to find the best solutions for all sides of an issue.
We hope that by providing insight into our school that we will promote wider appreciation for strategic studies, not only in America, but among our allies and future partners as well. We are convinced that smarter strategists will build a safer, more secure world for us all.
Once again, welcome!
Thomas D. McCarthy, Colonel, USAF (PhD)
Commandant and Dean
School of Advanced Air and Space Studies