United States federal law and other regulations require the US military services to provide professional military

education to their forces. Meeting that requirement will become increasingly difficult with the absence of a federal government budget, significant cuts to defense spending, and expected future cuts to both defense spending and manpower. Additionally, the operations tempo remains high despite the withdrawal of troops from Iraq

and the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan. The resulting time and budget constraints will likely make it

more difficult for the services to provide every member with the opportunity to compete for positions in coveted in-residence professional military education programs. Thus, the Air Force is considering a new lifetime

learning approach to professional military education. As the Air Force seeks to develop its new paradigm, we

must understand what benefits of the current system should be retained and what drawbacks should be allayed.

Unfortunately, there is little research in this area. We content analyze data collected from Air Force officers

attending in-residence professional military education, synthesize our findings with education and technology literature, and suggest innovative technologies that can maximize the intangible benefits and minimize

the drawbacks of professional military education. The blended approach we present can create a richer, more

meaningful learning experience for the service member, while simultaneously lowering the cost per member

and providing greater opportunity to attend in-residence professional military education.