Vandenberg Airman Leadership School Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Vandenberg leadership and personnel listen during the introduction of a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Vandenberg’s Airman Leadership School at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, Aug. 20, 2026. The ceremony for the Chief Master Sgt. Arthur Hicks Airman Leadership School commemorated the reopening of the schoolhouse following an extended construction period. Commissioning in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a lieutenant in 1941 and beginning his career as an aircraft mechanic at the Alabama Tuskegee Institute, Hicks was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military pilots and support personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces. Airman Leadership School is designed to be an entry level leadership enhancement course to prepare Airmen and Guardians for positions of greater responsibility by strengthening their ability to lead, follow and manage while also gaining a broader understanding of the military profession and their role within the Air Force and Space Force. (U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Ian Hawkes)