Participation in Erasmus+
The Spanish Air Force Academy (AGA) is a small Higher Education Institution (HEI) that serves as the sole commissioning source for future Spanish Air Force Officers. Additionally, it is one of four Military Service Academy’s in Spain (Naval Academy, Army Academy and Central Academy of Defence are the other three). The AGA educates students at a variety of stages of their Higher Education academic career. Students who enter directly from High School must go through a 5-year academic plan that is managed by our embedded University Center of Defense (CUD) collocated within the AGA. The AGA also trains and educates students who already possess a Bachelor’s degree, but require military instruction to become a specialized officer in the Spanish Air Force. The AGA is responsible for graduating students with the following military specialties:
Pilot (fighter, transport, helicopter), Airspace Control and Defense, Industrial Engineer, Quartermaster, and Cyberdefense. The AGA is responsible for all facets of military training and education as well as collaborating with the CUD to meet the degree accreditation requirements for 5-year students. Although a symbiotic relationship, both the AGA and CUD have their own objectives and requirements and will benefit tremendously from individual ECHE’s.
The AGA’s participation in this Program aims at achieving the following goals: building an open and multinational organizational culture, reaching a competitive edge on the international education market, producing exceptional future commanders in Europe, and developing international cooperation, primarily with military institutions of higher education. The activities conducted by the AGA within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program enable, promulgate and promote international mobility of students, administrative staff, and academic instructors of the AGA. For this reason, the AGA strives to enter strategic partnerships with fellow military institutions in order to foster the development of our collective EU future leaders. This cooperation is pursued in the fields of exchange of ideas and knowledge, experience, exposure, and practical application via personnel (student and staff) academic exchanges.
In the framework of Erasmus+, the AGA would like to take part in Key Action 1 “Learning Mobility.” As an active member of the European Initiative for the Exchange of Military Young Officers (EMILYO) inspired by Erasmus, the AGA is excited to leverage Erasmus+ to both participate in and host student and staff mobility events, trainings, and collaborate with other military institutions for academic and professional development. Activities which the AGA is planning to conduct within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program will be aimed at facilitating, propagating, and promoting international mobility of students, administrative workers, and academic personnel of the Academy.
The selection procedure for staff mobility will be carried out through transparent public calls via the internal military dissemination system available to all AGA-assigned personnel. Each section has a designated secretary responsible for relaying information and call for applicants. The Erasmus coordinator will also provide routine updates about potential mobility opportunities to the secretary’s for dissemination/promotion.
Selection procedure for student mobility will be carried out through the standard military selection process going through a preliminary review by the Head of the Student Squadron to the Dean of Academics for final approval. Student mobility candidate selections will be made based on: qualifications, merits, and potential benefits of the proposed mobility.
Additionally, although for national security purposes the AGA has a closed defense network, all AGA assigned personnel have access to the AGA “Virtual Campus” in which students, staff, and instructors alike can access virtual classrooms and pages. Within the Virtual Campus is a page dedicated to International Relations and includes links to external sites and hosts pertinent information regarding upcoming mobility offers, associated timelines, after action reports, application requirements, contact information, etc. Both staff and student mobility participants will be selected without regard to gender, race, religion or social background. In all exchanges, the criteria of non-discrimination will be met, promoting gender equality, ensuring the integration of staff/students with disabilities, seeking to improve economic and social cohesion and combating any manifestation of xenophobia and racism.
AGA has sufficient organizational structure to ensure the quality of academic mobility activities. An Erasmus coordinator is available to support staff and students with their exchange activities, providing participants with the necessary information and monitoring the activities carried out, as well as administrative support for financial issues from the administrative office.
Strategy, objectives and impact
The Spanish Air Force Academy (AGA) is committed to the development and production of future leaders and Air Force officers who can represent Spanish values and perspectives on matters of national security in the international arena. Enhancing internationalization is a critical component of developing Spain’s future military professionals. This must include expansion of internationalization with respect to interoperability, cooperation, cultural diversity, and experience in the framework of our geopolitical alliances and partners in Europe and beyond.
One of the strategic goals of participating in the Program is the reinforcement of leadership
competencies of students, especially in cross-border and multicultural environments. In order to effectively align our students with the objectives of the AGA, we place a strong emphasis on developing our future graduates’ cultural identity and responsibility as well as strengthening and building partnership capacity. The AGA’s participation in the Program is invaluable to the professional development of the future leaders of national security both within Spain, the EU, and NATO.
The AGA already participates in both military officer staff (United States, Italy, Argentina) and military student (United States and France) exchanges which have been arranged by the Spanish armed forces and are outside the scope of Erasmus+. However, as an active member of EMILYO, the AGA intends to pursue the feasibility of and partake in the International Air Force Semester currently in development by the Erasmus inspired initiative. This student exchange would provide another meaningful opportunity for our cadets to be immersed in the international arena. Furthermore, the AGA has successfully participated in numerous outbound EMILYO short mobility training modules for things such as Common Security and Defense Policy, Cybersecurity, Budget and Finance, Space and Air Defense, etc. organized and hosted by fellow military academies and Erasmus+ partners. AGA students and accompanying staff officers return from these international exchanges with heightened awareness, confidence, interest, and desire to continue building relationships. Lastly, the AGA is an active host of short mobility exchanges offering inbound students and staff opportunities to partake in military training and cultural engagement activities within Spain.
The exchange of personnel is an invaluable contribution to the deliberate development of students and staff and these experiences exponentially strengthen the essential underpinnings of international military cooperation.
One of the most important aspects of the AGA’s military training is developing officers who not only understand how to embody and communicate the role of Spanish Air personnel, but also to learn and expand their interoperability with other EU nations and partners. The profession of arms relies on multinational cooperation; exposing AGA cadets and future officers to their peers and future colleagues in an academic and training environment is pivotal to the shared success of our EU militaries. This is equally as important for our academic staff who are predominantly commissioned military officers and not only bring their own unique perspective and experience, but also need to continue developing and expanding their leadership repertoire to impart to our next-generation military leaders.
In the framework of Erasmus+, the AGA would like to take part in Key Action 1 “Learning Mobility.” As an active member of EMILYO inspired by Erasmus, the AGA is excited to leverage Erasmus+ to both participate in and host student mobility events, trainings, and collaborate with other military institutions for academic and professional development. Activities which the AGA is planning to conduct within the framework of the Erasmus+ program will be aimed at cultivating, fostering, and championing international mobility of students, administrative workers, and academic personnel of the Academy.
Within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program, the AGA is planning to conduct activities in the following areas:
– First and second cycle Student Mobility Studies (SMS) and Traineeship (SMP)
– Staff Mobility for Teaching (STA) and Training (STT)
– Blended intensive programmes (with the option to be both organizer or participating partner)
Within the overall objective of internationalization and practical application, the following specific objectives have been defined:
O1: Improving the capacity, practical experience, and both cultural and cognitive diversity of our students and staff through mobility activities
O2: Developing and modernizing new strategic plans based on knowledge acquired through academic student and staff mobility to improve material substance and perspective during academics and practical leadership exercises/activities
O3: Build and sustain partnerships with international military academies
O4: Increase linguistic competencies through international student and staff mobility
In relation to the expected impact of participation in the Erasmus+ Program at the AGA, we highlight the following: by enabling our aspiring military students and predominantly military instructors to visit, learn, train, and interact with other military professionals and academies, we will acquire new perspectives to incorporate in our teaching, leadership, and officer development training.
We will also increase exposure to other cultures and perspectives that will be invaluable to our future officers and in-turn, the citizens whom they have sworn to serve and protect. The exchange of ideas, good practices, and collaboration will unquestionably pay dividends with respect to: methodology innovation, cognitive diversity, experience, confidence, and language skills of our students and academic staff. Furthermore, this will help us both establish and maintain strong partnerships between academies which transcend changes in personnel as is the nature of military professionals.
Participation in Erasmus+ will contribute toward the modernization of the AGA as follows:
– Improvement of the quality and relevance of higher education and increased level of success of graduates and military leaders; the AGA takes great pride in the product it produces to ensure future units receive an excellent professional and officer equipped with the necessary expertise to accomplish their jobs and be an immediately contributing member of their team.
– Increased mobility and cross-border cooperation, particularly as it relates to other military academies. In addition, exposure to other cultures and perspectives, students also receive associated credit for their attendance and participation making it a personally and professionally worthwhile endeavor.
– Allow guest lecturers to both receive and provide a mutually beneficial experience to our students and academic staff. The knowledge and experience they impart to the students and staff will have a profound impact on cultivating and developing the kind of officers the AGA strives to grow. This is mutually beneficial to the lecturer who will receive cultural awareness and insight into our values and future military leaders.
Indicators
Our overall objective is internationalizations with the specific objectives (O1-O4) as outlined above. The primary quality indicator for these objectives is the number of student and staff mobilities per academic year. Our indicative timeline is to realize a minimum of 12 student and 6 staff mobilities. We will predominantly realize short mobilities with 6 outbound/inbound each for students and 3 outbound/inbound each for staff (outbound staff mobilities targeting military officer instructors).
We will conduct analysis of satisfaction surveys after the mobilities with the aim to increase the quality of mobility management and support to staff and students.