The Impact of Organizational Culture on KC-135 Combat Education and Training

While many of the challenges associated with the combat employment of the KC-135 are well documented and understood, Air Mobility Command's education and training response, a KC-135 Weapons Instructor Course, became a source of conflict - both within AMC and between AMC and outside organizations. Because a KC-135 WIC was a new concept, conflict was often based on beliefs and assumptions best explained by organizational culture. This project's hypothesis is that mobility weapon systems adopt tactical or operation combat employment paradigms (assumptions and beliefs) that dictate subsequent combat education and training cultures. Cultural assumptions are a powerful force and govern attitudes and perceptions over organizational purposes, student attributes, graduate roles, and ultimately, proper combat employment skills, knowledge, and mindsets.