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Satellite PME Available for Senior Airmen

  • Published
  • By TSgt. Dan Heaton
  • 127th Public Affairs
Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. --  Sixty-five Senior airmen around the 127th Wing are just one step away from joining the NCO ranks. But the next step is a crucial one: PME - Professional Military Education. PME teaches a person the art and the science of being a professional Airman. 

Senior airmen are required to attend Airman Leadership School, or ALS, prior to being eligible for promotion to staff sergeant. The 127th Wing, in conjunction with the ALS school at McGhee Tyson AFB in Tennessee, is offering an ALS satellite course for senior airmen, beginning May 18. Students enrolled in the program will attend class two nights a week from 6-11 p.m. Tuesday and Thursdays at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, May 18- August 5. They will then spend August 10-21 attending class at McGhee Tyson. 

Airmen are paid one drill period for each night of class. Completion of the class also provides 10 credit hours in the Community College of the Air Force degree program.
"It is an ideal way for our young Airmen to take the next step," said Senior Master Sgt. Joe Stevens, 127th Wing human resources advisor and local satellite PME instructor for the wing. 

Stevens said the class was intentionally scheduled in the summer months to allow traditional-status guardsmen who may be attending college during the school year to complete ALS while on summer break. 

The class is conducted simultaneously at about a dozen bases around the country and at McGhee Tyson - which serves as the Air National Guard's Training and Education Center. The lead instructors are available via two-way interactive broadcast from McGhee Tyson, and a local senior NCO serves as the on-site facilitator of the class. 

"It's challenging, but fun," said Technical Sgt. Earl Anzano, 107th Fighter Squadron aircrew flight equipment specialist.   Anzano just completed the non-commissioned officer academy via the satellite course. Another NCO Academy is beginning in May, though the registration period for that class is already closed. 

"The class forces you to put on your NCO hat, your Airman hat and pushes you to learn the things you need to know to promote to the next level," Anzano said. 

Stevens said those senior Airmen who are interested in the course need to contact their training NCO or first sergeant quickly, as the deadline to enroll is April 18.