1 00:00:00,274 --> 00:00:01,943 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:01,943 --> 00:00:04,693 (engine revving) 3 00:00:09,190 --> 00:00:11,380 - Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Ridin' With The 6, 4 00:00:11,380 --> 00:00:12,970 this is Brigadier General Chad Raduege 5 00:00:12,970 --> 00:00:15,450 your Air Combat Command A6. 6 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:17,310 And I'm here with Chief Patti Ford, 7 00:00:17,310 --> 00:00:19,670 one of our MAJCOM functional managers. 8 00:00:19,670 --> 00:00:22,360 Chief, good to have you riding with us today. 9 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:23,960 The chief and I are not riding today, 10 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:25,510 but we're at Langley Air Force Base, 11 00:00:25,510 --> 00:00:27,200 and we've taken a pit stop, 12 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:32,200 to stop by this library to talk about digital literacy. 13 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,470 So why digital literacy? 14 00:00:34,470 --> 00:00:37,223 Several things, on my mind today, 15 00:00:38,810 --> 00:00:39,930 how many of you are tracking 16 00:00:39,930 --> 00:00:41,820 that our new Chief of Staff of the Air Force, 17 00:00:41,820 --> 00:00:43,970 and our new Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force, 18 00:00:43,970 --> 00:00:45,530 are talking about, 19 00:00:45,530 --> 00:00:47,910 the need to build out a digital infrastructure, 20 00:00:47,910 --> 00:00:51,070 a digital foundation for our Air Force, 21 00:00:51,070 --> 00:00:54,450 to enable things like JADC2 and ABMS? 22 00:00:54,450 --> 00:00:55,610 How many of you are tracking 23 00:00:55,610 --> 00:00:58,490 that our new Deputy Chief Information Officer, 24 00:00:58,490 --> 00:01:01,670 is building a digital transformation 25 00:01:01,670 --> 00:01:05,353 with things like ITeS and things like cloud technologies? 26 00:01:06,550 --> 00:01:07,610 How many of you have heard 27 00:01:07,610 --> 00:01:10,720 that some of our senior leaders in the Space Force 28 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,263 are actually taking Python programming classes? 29 00:01:15,180 --> 00:01:17,410 How many of you have heard the news, 30 00:01:17,410 --> 00:01:19,890 that our United States Military Academy, 31 00:01:19,890 --> 00:01:22,690 so West Point, the army cadets, 32 00:01:22,690 --> 00:01:24,270 have gone through this initiative, 33 00:01:24,270 --> 00:01:27,480 where every cadet will actually get Python training 34 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:29,060 as part of their curriculum? 35 00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:31,360 This inspired me over the weekend, 36 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:32,750 and I actually jumped on 37 00:01:32,750 --> 00:01:35,410 a platform called Digital University 38 00:01:35,410 --> 00:01:39,860 and took a programming lesson in Python, 39 00:01:39,860 --> 00:01:41,263 and it was pretty exciting. 40 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:45,820 So our topic this morning is digital literacy and about, 41 00:01:45,820 --> 00:01:47,420 raising the game for everyone 42 00:01:47,420 --> 00:01:49,160 in our United States Air Force. 43 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,860 But it's also about Digital University, 44 00:01:51,860 --> 00:01:53,760 and I couldn't think of anyone better 45 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,260 than to bring in our expert, Chief Patti Ford, 46 00:01:57,260 --> 00:02:02,260 who is our ACC lead for our pilot effort on Digital U. 47 00:02:02,550 --> 00:02:04,700 So chief, thanks for joining me today, 48 00:02:04,700 --> 00:02:06,850 thanks for offering your expertise. 49 00:02:06,850 --> 00:02:10,210 I guess I would start with what is Digital University? 50 00:02:10,210 --> 00:02:12,560 - Well sir thank you very much for bringing me in today. 51 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,720 So Digital University, is the newest Air Force 52 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,000 transformation on digital talent, 53 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,000 it's a platform that allows us to assess, train, 54 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,050 and certify digital skills. 55 00:02:24,050 --> 00:02:28,100 It's actually a 24/7 online course, 56 00:02:28,100 --> 00:02:30,696 available to all our airmen now. 57 00:02:30,696 --> 00:02:33,460 - So chief you said it's available to all our airmen 58 00:02:33,460 --> 00:02:35,480 are we talking big A airmen? 59 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,330 Is it only for those that wear the uniform? 60 00:02:37,330 --> 00:02:40,950 Who can take classes on Digital U? 61 00:02:40,950 --> 00:02:43,920 - Definitely it is a total force all airmen, 62 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:48,670 big A airmen, officer enlisted and civilians. 63 00:02:48,670 --> 00:02:50,420 So what it offers is, 64 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:53,640 we know that in the Air Force everybody trains 65 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,010 to a different beat, to a different drum, 66 00:02:56,010 --> 00:03:00,450 so the platforms that Digital U has come about, 67 00:03:00,450 --> 00:03:02,320 is they have three different levels, 68 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,550 focused on our cyber ninjas, 69 00:03:04,550 --> 00:03:07,080 our digital stewards already in the Air Force, 70 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,010 and then all of our Air Force members 71 00:03:09,010 --> 00:03:13,250 to upscale the digital skills that they currently have. 72 00:03:13,250 --> 00:03:15,200 - So it sounds like the goal is to raise 73 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:16,750 digital literacy for everyone 74 00:03:16,750 --> 00:03:18,630 in the United States Air Force, 75 00:03:18,630 --> 00:03:20,540 and it's not just for our cyber ninjas, 76 00:03:20,540 --> 00:03:21,750 this is for everybody. 77 00:03:21,750 --> 00:03:23,810 - Yes sir it is for everyone. 78 00:03:23,810 --> 00:03:24,830 - Can you give us a scope, 79 00:03:24,830 --> 00:03:27,540 how many classes are on Digital U? 80 00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:30,380 - So Digital U currently has over 12,000 classes 81 00:03:30,380 --> 00:03:32,330 so it's everything that you can think of 82 00:03:32,330 --> 00:03:33,540 I challenge anybody 83 00:03:33,540 --> 00:03:36,950 to find anything that they can't do on Digital University, 84 00:03:36,950 --> 00:03:39,160 it's for the novice, it's for the intermediate 85 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:40,310 and it's for the experts, 86 00:03:40,310 --> 00:03:42,810 it's gonna upscale all the talent that we have out there, 87 00:03:42,810 --> 00:03:44,270 what we need to do, 88 00:03:44,270 --> 00:03:46,190 in order to transform our Air Force, 89 00:03:46,190 --> 00:03:49,280 to a more digital savvy force. 90 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:50,920 - Have you taken any classes yet? 91 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,330 - Yes sir I have, I've actually taken multiple ones 92 00:03:53,330 --> 00:03:57,010 so I like to put my fingers on Photoshop a little bit, 93 00:03:57,010 --> 00:03:57,940 so I've done that, 94 00:03:57,940 --> 00:04:02,760 and I've had a chance to work on Excels pivot tables 95 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,560 and I'm also working on my PMP. 96 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,490 - Very good, well chief you'll be happy to hear 97 00:04:08,490 --> 00:04:12,240 that I took a class on resiliency, 98 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,290 so that was kind of one of those foundational things 99 00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:17,020 that I think all airmen should be concerned about. 100 00:04:17,020 --> 00:04:18,620 I just took a class over the weekend 101 00:04:18,620 --> 00:04:20,660 on 5G technologies trying to understand 102 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:23,390 how that fits into the United States Air Force, 103 00:04:23,390 --> 00:04:24,640 and then as I talked about, 104 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,440 I took a Python programming class, 105 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,650 and that was all about the learning about the Zen of Python. 106 00:04:31,650 --> 00:04:35,427 So this is a pretty exciting adventure for us, 107 00:04:35,427 --> 00:04:36,870 ACC is leading the way, 108 00:04:36,870 --> 00:04:39,500 as a pilot for our United States Air Force, 109 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:42,210 and we're happy to carry this forward. 110 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:45,200 Chief as we often say, I think this is a foundation, 111 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,820 for our force as we move forward into the future, 112 00:04:47,820 --> 00:04:50,640 and as always I would say cyber up. 113 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:51,473 - Cyber up.