For two decades, the U.S. Air Force Center for Strategic Deterrence Studies has enhanced the national security community's discussion of issues involving nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons through its educational courses, research products, and weekly News and Analysis publication. Through its development and execution of electives for the Air War College and Air Command and Staff College, the Center directly supports the Air Force Strategic Master Plan’s strategic vector to “Provide Effective 21st-Century Deterrence.” The Center has memorandums of agreement with the Air Force Global Strike Command, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Project AF RAND to better enhance its efforts to educate Airmen and to provide research on the most challenging defense issues of the day.

The USAF Center for Strategic Deterrence Studies hosts a joint elective with the Air War College and Air Command and Staff College on nuclear and non-nuclear deterrence policy and strategy. This course has an implicit focus on nuclear deterrence, but other forms of deterrence, such as cyber, space, and conventional, are also discussed. The commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration provide strategic policy questions for the students to address and support research through active engagement with the students. The 60-hour elective includes two field trips, one to the DOE national labs and one to Washington DC to discuss contemporary issues with top researchers and policy makers. The results of the student research are published in monographs available here.