The Air Power Development Centre is involved in a number of RAAF education programs:

• Fellowships
• Officer Education Courses
• Airmen Education Courses
• Advanced Air Power Course
• Air Power Education Seminars

Advanced Air Power Course - Level 1

Course Structure

The Advanced Air Power Course (AAPC) is designed to give greater understanding of air power theory and doctrine than that provided through the PMET Scheme. The Course is structured to increase air power awareness through questioning and challenging the student's existing knowledge. Air power topics covered range from World War I to Afghanistan and Iraq. The course is delivered by external mode via the Intranet or Internet. A comprehensive set of course readings and activities are distributed to students on a CD-ROM. The course operates over a period of 15 weeks. The first 12 weeks consist of programmed reading and on-line participation, via e-mail discussions of the weekly topics, followed by submission of an essay three weeks later. Both areas of work are assessable and participation is required for an overall pass on the course. The student workload is approximately eight hours per week.

Topics

The topics covered in the course are:

1. Air Power and National Strategy
2. The Experience of 1914-1918: Can generalisations have been made for the future use of air power from the experience of 1914-1918?
3. Exercise and Control: Why has the exercise and control of air power so often been a controversial and frequently an emotional issue?
4. The Battle of Britain: Why does the Battle of Britain appear to occupy such an important position in the history of air power?
5. Area attack: Was the execution of 'area attack' in the second world war a misuse of air power? Was the American concept of precision attacks aimed at key economic targets practical and preferable?
6. Japanese Air Power: Why was Japanese air power so successful as an instrument of national strategy in the initial stages of the Pacific War yet virtually incapable of defending the Japanese homeland by 1945?
7. The use of Aircraft and International Law: Was Sir Arthur Harris right when he argued '…in the use of aircraft in war there is no international law at all'?
8. The War in Vietnam: To what extent did the outcome of the war in Vietnam represent a colossal failure of air power to secure a desired result?
9. Douhet, Clausewitz and the Principles of War
10. The Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo: An analysis of the Gulf War, the actions in Bosnia, and then over Kosovo and perhaps over Afghanistan must result in the conclusion that it is now possible for air power alone to force a favourable conclusion to any conflict. Would there be general agreement to this proposition?
11. Air Power and National Strategy revisited

Additional Texts

Additional recommended texts include:

• The War in the Air 1914-1994, edited by A.Stephens, 1994, RAAF Aerospace Centre, Canberra
• The Strategists, edited by Hugh Smith, 2001, Australian Defence Studies Centre, Canberra.

Copies of both books are sent to all course members and they retain them on course completion.

Assessment

There are two assessment areas in this course: participation in the weekly pre-set activities which require input from each course member to the academic supervisor for the 12 weeks and one essay of 3000 words. It is compulsory to obtain passes in both assesment areas in order to achieve an overall pass in the course. Standard of assessment is at the Masters level.

Supervision

Academic supervision is provided by Professor John McCarthy, a noted air historian, and the course is managed by the APDC Deputy Director - Doctrine and Education who is the point of contact for further information.

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