Because of funding constraints, not all PDTs are currently available. Contact us for more information.
As an AFROTC cadet, you’ll have many opportunities to travel and experience things typical college students only dream of. You can fly airplanes—or maybe you’d like to jump out of one. You can learn hand-to-hand combat skills or gain insight into the day-to-day operations of an Air Force base. Wherever your interests lie, we probably have a developmental program for you!
Cadets receive training pay for the duration of their trip, and most transportation, sustenance, and lodging expenses are covered.
Advanced Course in Engineering (ACE)
The Advanced Course in Engineering, aka Cyber Boot Camp, develops the next generation of cyber officers through education, problem solving, military internship, and physical conditioning (including weekly 8-mile runs). ACE graduates are filling key positions in the Air Force and Department of Defense. Eligible cadets must be majoring in computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, or physics and have a 3.0 cumulative GPA. This ten-week program is offered in Rome, New York.
Air Force Academy Freefall (AFAFF)
Air Force Academy Freefall is a twelve-day parachute training program conducted at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The course comprises strenuous physical training, conditioning, ground school, and five freefall jumps from 4,500 feet. Cadets completing all five jumps are awarded a basic parachutist rating.
Army Air Assault School (AAAS)
The Army Air Assault School is an extremely rigorous ten-day program offered by 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Cadets (and soldiers) receive instruction in such areas as aircraft safety and orientation, aero medical evacuation, pathfinder operations, close combat attacks, combat assault operations, slingload operations, and rappelling, and must complete a twelve-mile foot march (with prescribed uniform and equipment) within three hours. Cadets completing the course are authorized to wear the air assault badge while in AFROTC and on active duty..
Cadet Summer Language Immersion Program (CSLIP)
The Cadet Summer Language Immersion Program is a four-week program designed for AS300 or AS400 cadets who have studied a foreign language for at least two full years in college. Cadets receive both total language and cultural immersion at an overseas location where the language is used. Requires a passport and visa.
Field Engineering and Readiness Laboratory (FERL)
The Field Engineering and Readiness Laboratory is a five-week program that provides opportunities for cadets with a civil engineering (CE) major to get hands-on work experience in the CE career field. Cadets gain experience working with both military and USAF Academy instructors on actual projects at various Air Force bases. Training consists of two weeks working with CE at a designated Air Force base and three weeks of hands-on construction activities at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Project Global Officer (ProjectGO)
The Institute of International Education (IIE) awards grants to universities to establish language and cultural immersion programs. Universities that receive the grant run their programs. For example, Indiana University sponsors the ROTC Strategic Languages and Cultures Program with their grant. Cadets who are accepted attend an intensive eight-week summer session at IU, learning a language such as Arabic, Kazakh, Pashto, Russian, etc. while completing a full year of college foreign language credit. Cadets continue with the second year of foreign language study upon returning to their home university, either through their home institution or distance learning. Scholarships are awarded for this program on a competitive basis.
National Reconnaissance Office Summer Research Project (NRO-SRP)
The National Reconnaissance Office Summer Research Project is a five-week program sponsored by the NRO in Chantilly, Virginia. Only POC cadets on scholarship may attend. Cadets must also be eligible for a Top Secret security clearance.
Olmsted Cultural Immersion Program (OCIP)
The Olmsted Cultural Immersion Program is a two-week program designed to enhance cadets’ cross-cultural skills by exposing them to different cultures. Previous locations include the Balkans, Brazil, China, Japan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Requires a passport and visa.
Operation Air Force (OPS AF)
Operation Air Force makes up a large percentage of PDT assignments. Training is conducted at various Air Force installations throughout the United States and overseas. OPS AF consists of three weeks of general orientation and shadowing junior officers and noncommissioned officers. Cadet availability dates, detachment location, and the number of cadets each base can support play a significant role in the assignment process. Note: Cadets are not assigned to a specific career field. The primary objective is to give cadets a greater understanding of the Air Force and exposure to multiple career fields.
Operation Air Force—Office of Special Investigation (OPS AF-OSI)
Cadets interested in the Office of Special Investigation as a career choice are given the opportunity to shadow an Air Force OSI officer during this eighteen-day program. Cadets may accomplish their career field interview, which is necessary for entrance into OSI, at this time. A Secret security clearance is mandatory for attendance.
Soaring (SOAR)
Soaring is a fifteen-day program designed to give cadets the opportunity to experience the basic fundamental of flight in nonpowered glider operations. Cadets receive instruction in basic flight through ground school and actual flight, leading up to and possibly including cadet solo. The majority of instruction is conducted by upperclass USAFA cadets trained as soaring instructors. The program assumes that cadets have no previous flight experience, and there are no special medical requirements. Training is conducted at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Space 250/251
Space 250 is a ten-day program designed to give cadets an orientation into the fundamentals of space power applications, capabilities, and employment. The course is offered at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Successful completion authorized cadets wear of the basic cadet space badge.