Upskill Intensive Week delivers impact at NASIC

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kristof J. Rixmann
  • National Air and Space Intelligence Center Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The National Air and Space Intelligence Center’s Directorate of Personnel successfully wrapped up its first offering of UpSkill Intensives – a weeklong, no-cost professional development event that ran Sept. 26-30.

Nearly 550 NASIC military and civilian members participated in one or more of the 33 course offerings. Of these, 17 courses covered essential skills, 13 shared knowledge of Python and machine learning, and three provided mission briefs.

By breaking up the courses into these three categories and recruiting instructors from within both NASIC and local universities, the event provided a diverse, yet tailored learning experience for participants. It’s an approach Sharon Heilmann, NASIC Workforce Development Division chief, said organizers plan to maintain.

“We will continue to invite NASIC’s subject-matter experts to offer classes in machine learning, as well as collaborate with local academic partners to offer essential-skills courses,” she said.

Heilmann’s office plans to continue offering UpSkill Intensives on a regular basis. She expects the training event’s benefits to increase as feedback is incorporated.

“We will continue to evolve our offerings every quarter to include the high-demand courses that resonated with our workforce for this offering, as well as feedback we are receiving from course evaluations, center-wide needs assessments, focus groups, and inputs from senior leaders and supervisors,” she said.

The next UpSkill Intensive Week is scheduled for February.