The 90% - room to change

AETC Commander Gen. Edward Rice Jr., opened the 2012 AETC Symposium with a mandate to maximize the integration and education opportunities over the two-day event, but his words are just as applicable to us as trainers in our day-to-day work lives.

1. As the commander of Air EDUCATION and TRAINING Command, Gen. Rice pointed to the difference between training and education. Training refers to creating a skill set; education consists of critical thinking and making decisions in the face of uncertainty. In our business, we need to ensure we are providing both.

2. There are few things in life that you get without investing in them. Even with the Air Force's current fiscal situation, Gen. Rice emphasized the need to invest in education so that AETC will continue to grow. As we make cuts, we need to ensure that we are investing in areas that will ensure continued growth.

3. "We have a very, very rare opportunity to pivot the enterprise," Gen. Rice said. With the combination of a fundamental change in available tools (new technology) and a different set of raw materials (the experience base of incoming trainees), we have the chance to make the enterprise more effective and efficient. And according to the general, the current fiscal environment will provide us enough to do our mission but not in the same way, so change will not only be an opportunity, but will be necessary.

Gen. Rice concluded his remarks with a reminder that every experience is 10% what happens to us and 90% what we do with it - the symposium, education, cost cuts, changes.

As trainers, we have an opportunity every day to impact the future of our Air Force; as educators in a time of change, we have an opportunity today to shape the efficiency and effectiveness of the way the Air Force produces Airmen.