Finding the Balance Between Schoolhouse and On-the-Job Training

The Air Force typically trains 30,000 to 40,000 new airmen a year. It utilizes two methods for training enlistees: centralized initial skills training (“schoolhouse” training) and decentralized on-the-job training. The authors develop a methodology to determine the most cost-effective combination of the two, based on a cost-benefit analysis of seven Air Force specialties.