Integrating bottom-up and top-down Competency modeling: Mapping the U.S. Air Force Foundational Competencies across Occupations.

Abstract

In 2018, senior leadership within the U.S. Air Force's Air Education & Training Command directed a shift to competency-based learning and force development, and introduced a new office tasked to develop, validate, assess, and integrate competencies Air Force-wide. This included two separate initiatives: (1) a top-down process focused on Foundational Competencies, which were intended to be applicable across all Air Force career fields, and (2) a bottom-up process of developing discrete Occupational Competency models one career field at a time. In an effort to merge the two, and more broadly develop Air Force members, a focus group and survey process was introduced in which career field members attempt to map each of their individual Occupational Competencies back to the common dictionary of Foundational Competencies ("Supporting Competencies"), with the opportunity to propose other "Supporting Competencies" if needed. This paper describes and summarizes the results of this effort across 110 Air Force occupations (total n = 18,822 survey respondents), and identifies Foundational Competencies that received the most support as widely applicable across career fields, as a complementary source of information to validate and refine the Foundational Competencies. Overall, across 110 diverse Air Force occupations individually surveyed, Communication, Accountability, Analytical Thinking, and Decision Making were consistently rated among the top supporting competencies; Organizational Awareness, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking were more highly rated for officers than for enlisted occupations. Although the results show continued, widespread applicability of many Foundational Competencies, results also suggest potential opportunities for refinement.